A Sound Like Thunder
TITLE: A Sound Like Thunder
PAIRING: Ryo/Shige
RATING: Heavy R
WORD COUNT: 5,554
SUMMARY: Ryo has obligations as an idol. Shige gets dragged along.
NOTES: Whore!verse.
RANDOM TRIVIA: In Japan, Christmas is just an excuse for boyfriends to take their girlfriends on really lavish dates.
The railing on the veranda has a light dusting of snow, and the weatherman is warning residents to watch out for ice on sidewalks.
Shige’s sitting on the couch, sipping on a cup of tea, which has long since lost its warmth. The newscasters bid a goodnight to their viewers and the next show comes up: The Shounen Club.
It’s December 24th, and Shige is sitting on Ryo’s couch, drinking his tea (the nice loose leaf kind) watching him answer stupid questions and perform ridiculous acts in the Christmas Eve Live Special.
-- -- --
For once, Ryo actually looks a little guilty. Shige’s holding a magazine, ranking restaurants in Ginza and Shibuya. The cover has a caricature of a Christmas tree and giant snow flakes.
“A change of plans.”
“Yeah.” Ryo scratches the back of his head. “I don’t really know all the details, but… basically, Kanjani8’s going on now. I’ll be gone all day.”
Shige tosses the magazine onto the coffee table.
“Sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize.” Shige leans back. “These kinds of things are out of your control.”
-- -- --
December is a hectic month for both of them. Shige because it’s the end of the semester, Ryo because he has all the preparations for the Countdown on New Year’s Eve, along now with the rehearsals for the Christmas Special. There’s not much time they’re able to spend together, a dinner here and there, meeting up for lunch or coffee. They text back and forth when they can, but even that’s hard, because they both have work to do that needs to get done. Ryo will send one at noon, and Shige won’t be able to reply until sometime in the evening.
-- -- --
It’s early morning, 2am or so, when the lock clicks, there’s walking in the hallway and Shige feels a heavy weight fall onto the bed. Shige groans and holds tighter onto his pillow. He can hear Ryo stripping off his clothes, and then blankets are moved around and a cold arm wraps around his waist.
“I hate my job sometimes.”
Shige yawns. “December’s almost over.”
At 7:30am, Shige’s alarm goes off and he stumbles out of bed. He gets dressed in the dark, and just as he’s about ready to leave, Ryo grabs the back of his jeans and pulls him backwards, until he falls back in bed. Ryo mumbles something and it’s obvious that he’s only half-awake. Shige rests his head on Ryo’s shoulder, and decides that staying until Ryo’s fallen back asleep is worth being late to class.
-- -- --
Ryo being gone on Christmas Eve was a surprise, but Shige’s known for a while that the Countdown is penned onto every debuted Johnny’s calendar. There is no arguing against it, no getting out of it. Shige’s not even the tiniest bit surprised when he wakes up on December 25th to find Ryo already awake, sitting up in bed, scrolling through text messages, scowling.
“Is it that bad?”
“The logistics, Shige.” Ryo phone beeps and he swears; another new message. “It’s hell. So many people, so many songs and dances, so much space, so little space. Countdown is great, except when it’s not. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. A lot of personal things that have to be pushed aside for a night so the fans will think we’re one big happy family.”
“And you’re not.”
Ryo snorts.
-- -- --
Between the 26th and the 31st, Ryo is more or less constantly absent. Shige can tell he comes back to the apartment, but only because there will be dirty dishes in the sink, or clothes overflowing from the hamper. Occasionally, Shige will get a text message of Ryo’s bitching about other Johnny’s. He even gets one from Ryo’s phone, but is signed ‘Pi’ at the end and is filled with emoticons and little graphics that Ryo says he’s too manly to use.
Shige doesn’t have any class, since it’s into the New Year’s break, and he’s bored alone. He goes home for a few days, and his parents are thrilled at the surprise visit and Shige is promptly stuffed with home cooking. He sleeps in his own bed and plays with his dog, and plans on staying there until New Year’s Day, since he figures Ryo will be out all night partying after the Countdown. That plan changes though on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve.
SENT 2:33 PM
FROM RYO
Where the hell are you?
You need to come back right now.
There’s no explanation and Shige gets worried when Ryo doesn’t pick up when he calls. He leaves a vague note for his parents, telling him a friend in Tokyo needs his help with something. He rushes back into town, running through the train stations, commuters and station staff glaring at him. When he gets back to the apartment, Ryo is sitting on the couch, looking at his phone, completely fine.
“What the hell?”
Ryo looks up. “Oh, took you long enough. It’s been almost two hours.”
Shige frowns. “That’s how long it takes to get from my parent’s house to here.”
“Go take a shower. We need to leave soon.”
“… For where?”
“Tokyo Dome.”
“Excuse me?”
Ryo sighs and stands up. “Tokyo Dome.” He pushes Shige in the direction of the bathroom. “Each group gets to bring a certain number of guests back stage. Yasu wanted to bring his sister. I had to fight him for the pass.”
“What?”
Ryo frowns and Shige figures it would be best to hurry up.
-- -- --
The drive over is a little awkward, because Ryo spends the whole time listing off to Shige all the Johnny’s he should avoid, and saying that it would really be best if he just stayed in the dressing room and watched the whole thing on the closed circuit TV.
“What’s the point of even going then?”
Ryo uses the shoulder to pass a driver. “So that you’ll be there.”
Shige still doesn’t get it, but he lets Ryo have the last word.
-- -- --
When they get to the dome, Ryo drops him off in a waiting room with some other guests while he goes to a fitting. Or something. Shige hadn’t really been paying attention to what Ryo was saying. A middle-aged man in a suit comes in and goes through a list of things the guests may not do, and tells them to stay where they’re supposed to. Sneaking around behind the backs of staff will get them escorted out of the dome. He doesn’t say such actions will reflect negatively upon the inviting-Johnny, but Shige knows it’s implied. For the most part, the guests are older - probably parents or grandparents - and Shige feels like the whole talk is directed towards him.
Afterwards, he’s given a lanyard with a card and it told to wear it around his neck the whole time he’s backstage. On the card is his name, Ryo’s name and Kanjani8 are written neatly, and Shige’s quite sure Ryo didn’t write it. He’s led by a staffer in a yellow shirt to Kanjani8’s room and is greeted by no one.
“It’s into crunch time right now. There’s still 4 hours or so until the start of the concert, but the countdown is a big deal, and they all work together to make it perfect,” the staffer says and then leaves.
Shige’s attention is immediately drawn to the TV in one corner, flipping through the angles of various cameras every so often, a picture of a crossed out speaker in the bottom left corner. He presses the volume button on the TV and the room fills with sound.
“I know Mary-san really wanted that fringe on Arashi’s costumes, but if one of them is even the tiniest bit off in the dance, some one will trip, and then they’ll all fall down. Remove it. Next…. Alright, so Arashi walks down, singing.” The camera angle changes, showing center stage from the audience’s point of view. “After them, Kanjani8 walks- Yamashita-kun, please return to your side.” There’s a pause and then Shige can see Yamashita run across the stage. “Thank you. Kanjani8 comes down, every one please remember to stay in step. Yasuda-kun, that means you need to speed up, Maruyama-kun and Ohkura-kun need to slow down.”
The camera changes again, and this time, Tegoshi’s making faces in to the camera, Shige can only barely hear the conversation over the stage manager talking.
“Tegoshi, no one’s watching the closed circuit right now.”
“I bet some one is.” Tegoshi makes a grimace and then laughs.
Shige keeps watching as the cameras change, watching the groups go through the steps of the concert, every so often, some one making a face into the camera. Shige relaxes on the couch and watches, for lack of anything better to do. The clock keeps ticking, and after what feels like only a few minutes, the stage director is dismissing all the groups to have their final warm-ups and touch ups before the concert starts.
Shige jerks up, and looks around, wondering if he’s expected here, if he’ll be in any one’s way. For a minute, he debates going back to the first room he was in, but soon enough Kanjani8 is filing in, and they seem to have far better things to do than acknowledge Shige’s presence on the couch. Murakami is frantically trying to fix the part in his hair, Ohkura is digging through his bag, looking for something, Yasuda and Yokoyama are both absent from the room. Maruyama sits down in a chair and closes his eyes. The couch dips next to Shige when Ryo sits down, but he too seems pre-occupied.
“I’d like to have New Year’s in Osaka again one of these years.”
“Ah,” Shibutani sighs, “those were the good days.”
“It’s the price of fame,” Ohkura says from over his bag.
A staffer walks through the hall and calls for places in 5 minutes. Murakami leaves the room, and is soon followed by Ohkura. Ryo moves around in his seat, looking in the directions of Maruyama and Shibutani, and then makes a choking kind of face and puts his head on Shige’s shoulder.
“The after-party,” he whispers.
“I’ll leave that to you.”
Ryo laughs, and at the same moment, Maruyama stands up and tells Ryo they have to leave soon. He doesn’t immediately move his head, so Maruyama comes over and kicks his foot. Ryo kicks back. Shige pats Ryo on the leg. Maruyama leaves and Ryo lingers for another minute, breathing deeply, his eyes closed.
-- -- --
Shige spends most of the concert in the dressing room. He doesn’t feel comfortable wandering around backstage alone, and feels a little guilty because Ryo brought him here to enjoy the experience. Near the end, when the emotions are high and Shige can feel the rumble of the sub-woofers through the floor, he meanders out of the room. The halls are strangely empty - only a few staffers. They point out the few places he’s allowed to watch from on a map quickly, and then push him out of the way so they can get back to work. Shige follows the map, but he still gets lost, and he’s not all the surprised. He finds the end of a hallway; it’s wide and filled with racks of clothing and at the far end is a large doorway, and Shige thinks he can see bright colored lights through it. The music in this room is a lot louder, and he figures he’s much closer to the stage than he was back in the dressing room. A few staffers give him strange looks, but they don’t tell him to leave.
There’s an especially loud roar from the sub-woofer, the sound of screaming girls, and then there’s a flood of Johnny’s coming through the doorway. They’re clapping each other on the back, shouting, “Happy New Year’s!” and stripping off articles of clothing as they walk. They all seem to know exactly where to go, and watching them all is like watching a well choreographed dance. He doesn’t completely realize he’s standing in the way until some Johnnies walks up to the rack near him, and practically starts throwing clothes around. Shige can’t help his natural response to pick up the clothes (at least off the floor), and he slowly gets a little crowd around him, different people handing him their clothes like he’s a staffer. None of them take the time to look at his guest badge, or the confused look on his face. He’s slowly disappearing behind a mountain of clothes and there’s a hand on his shoulder, Shige turns, and sees Tegoshi smiling at him.
“Hi, Shige!”
“Um, hello.” Shige tries to shift the clothes a little. “Do you think you cou-“
“I’m surprised to see you here! Ryo-chan must have gotten you in! Ryo-chan’s really nice, isn’t he? Shige, let’s talk more at the after-party!”
And then Tegoshi walks away, oblivious to Shige’s plight. After 10 minutes, the room is deserted, and the staffers are putting these away. Shige coughs, and one finally turns to look at him. She walks over and takes half the arm-full of clothes.
“What are you doing?” She takes a closer look at Shige. “Who are you?”
“Um, I’m-“
She looks at his guest badge, frowns, and takes the rest of the clothes. “Go back to the dressing rooms.”
Shige apologizes for the trouble he’s caused and after probably twice as long as it should have taken, he finds his way back to Kanjani8’s dressing room. Every one is stretched out, nearly passed out on the floor, Yokoyama and Murakami on the couches. When Shige steps inside, he immediately trips on Yasuda legs and lands half on Ryo, half on Ohkura.
Ryo groans but doesn’t moves. Ohkura mutters something about how they have to get up for the party. Shige quickly moves off them.
“Would it really be so bad if we skipped?” Yasuda mumbles.
There’s a loud “yes” amidst the chorus of answers, and Murakami sits up from his place on the couch.
“Yes,” he repeats. “We have to go. And the longer we lay around, the harder it’s going to be to actually get up.”
No one moves.
“And all the hot water will be gone.”
And suddenly, there’s a flurry of movement. Yokoyama rolls off the couch and starts crawling towards the door. Ohkura and Yasuda both manage to stand up and use the walls for balance. Murakami stumbles up too, and drags Maruyama to his feet, and then gives Shige an imploring look, before helping Maruyama out.
“Ryo. Get up.”
He groans, and rolls onto his other side.
“You have to go to that party, right? Get up. You’ll complain later if there’s no hot water.”
Shige scoots closer to Ryo and tugs on his arm, but he just mumbles something that sounds like, “sleep”. Shige frowns, and stands, taking Ryo’s arm with him.
“You smell!” Shige starts walking, dragging Ryo behind him (sort of). “Go shower!”
Some how, Shige manages to get Ryo almost all the way to the door, before he finally stands up on his own, pulling his arm out of Shige grasp, and wrapping it around Shige’s shoulders.
“You really can’t understand how exhausted I am right now.”
“That’s not the point,” Shige replies, and he’s surprised at how soft his tone is.
“The party is going to go on for forever. It’s New Year’s.”
“Don’t ask me to wait up for you.”
“You’re going to have to.” Ryo smiles. “Cause you’re coming too.”
Shige blanches, and Ryo finally steps away from Kanjani8’s dressing room and heads for the showers.
-- -- --
They’re in Ryo’s car. Shige in the front seat, Yasuda, Shibutani and Yokoyama shoved into the backseat. Ryo’s talking with the three of them about idol things, and Shige’s still trying to think of an excuse to get out of this after-party. It’s somewhere in Ginza, the top floor of a posh hotel with a 360 degree view of the entire city. Shige’s wearing the jeans and jacket from earlier in the day. Ryo and others are far better dressed - brand names and expensive looking fabric. Once again, Shige is feeling awkward, unprepared, and utterly dreading this party.
-- -- --
In the lobby, every one waits their turn and older Johnny’s are allowed to go to the front of the line for the elevators. It’s a tall building and the ride up takes a while. The hotel staff looks stressed, and the Shige’s pretty sure half of the Johnny’s are already drunk. Ryo’s on his left side, arms pressed together, but Ryo’s looking in the other direction, having a wordless conversation with Ohkura who’s over by the bar. On the other side of Shige is Yamashita, smiling, waiting for a chance to talk with Ryo. Shige’s tense and all he really wants to do is go home. But he doesn’t have money for a taxi, and he doesn’t even really know where he is right now besides “Ginza”. Behind him, he can hear some one young wondering aloud how easy getting booze will be this year, in front of him, an older group is taking bets on who will get the drunkest and Shige starts wondering if he was dragged along with the sole purpose of babysitting drunken Ryo.
Ohkura comes back, balancing several drinks in the crook of his arms, Ryo grabs one and downs half of it in one go. Yamashita laughs, takes a drink as well, but only sips at it lightly. Shige doesn’t move for a drink, until Ohkura looks at him and then down at a purple-ish red drink. Shige sighs and takes it, mostly just so Ohkura won’t have to hold it any more. The line moves forward a little bit.
“I like this place better than last year,” Yamashita finally says, to break the silence.
Ryo snorts. “I’m surprised you even remember last year’s party.”
Ohkura laughs, and Yamashita blushes and tries to kick Ryo, but it’s hard with Shige between them.
They line moves again, and Shige realizes he has to find a reason to leave soon, because they’ll probably be in the next elevator.
“Um, Ryo, I think I-“
“No.”
Shige frowns. “Let me finish!”
“I know what you’re going to say.” Ryo takes another drink. “And you’re not leaving. I had to fight Yasuda for all this, so you have to stay here and appreciate my hard work.”
From somewhere behind them, Yasuda shouts something about his sister, but his words are slurred a little and the lobby is very loud to begin with.
Shige leans closer to Ryo, speaking under his breath, “I’m really not comfortable.”
“Drink more. You’ll get comfortable.”
The elevator beeps and opens and Shige gets a little frantic, grabbing onto Ryo’s arm with his free hand. “Can’t we go home?”
Ryo stills and seems to consider it for a minute. “As nice as that sounds, no. I have to stay long enough for every one important to get so drunk they don’t care if I leave or not.”
“Ryo-“
People from behind are pushing, and Shige’s getting closer to the elevator and tries to find another way out of it, but Ryo is firm on his left, and Yamashita is happily oblivious, smiling on his right. He gets shoved into the elevator, and it’s like riding the subway during rush hour. He losses sight of Ryo, Ohkura and Yamashita in the mass, and it only makes him even more uncomfortable and unhappy. The doors slide closed and there are several muffled conversations going on, and Shige closes his eyes and hopes it won’t take too long.
To his right, there’s some one talking in an irritated tone, with another person telling them calm down, it’s bad to start the New Year’s off on such a bad note. In front of him are some of the younger Johnny’s, trying to convince the tallest of their bunch to trick the bartender into thinking he’s old enough to drink. Behind him, he thinks he hears Ryo talking with Yamashita in a hushed tone.
Shige can’t see his watch, but he’s pretty sure that it’s around 1am, 1:30am at the latest. How long do idol parties usually run? Two or three hours? So 3:30am. If there was a wall in front of him, Shige would bash his forehead into it.
The elevator beeps, and the doors open and it’s a mass exodus out into the room, and Shige seems to be the only one amazed at the sight. He stop right outside the elevator doors, like the non-idol he is and takes in the many ice sculptures, bars step up along the walls, the karaoke machines. There’s a hand on the small on his back, and Shige is ready to turn and punch, but it’s only Ryo, holding a now empty glass in his other hand.
“Don’t be such a kid.”
Shige frowns.
“Let’s go get another drink.”
“I haven’t finished mine yet.”
Ryo looks down at Shige’s hand, at the glass, still nearly filled with the purple-ish red drink. “Did you want something with scotch instead?”
“What? No. That’s not the point here.”
“Drink it, Shige.”
And then Ryo’s walking off towards the bar, and Shige has to hurry to follow, because while he really doesn’t want to be here, the party will be just that much worse if he loses Ryo in the sea of people.
-- -- --
Ryo’s on his second Cosmopolitan, which was immediately preceded by a Martini and Long Island Iced Tea. Shige’s on his second purple-ish red drink, but it’s warmed up, so he’s actually not drinking it any more. But Ryo’s a bit too gone to notice that Shige never has a new drink. Ryo has an arm tight around Shige’s hip, and Tegoshi’s holding on his available arm, muttering something about cell phones, and Shige just really wishes he was some where else. There’s a shout, and another round of cheers and Ryo starts stumbling towards a half-filled table, declaring it’s time to sit. When they get there, Ryo nearly misses the chair entirely, and Shige has to quickly scoot it over with his foot. Tegoshi claps awkwardly and Ryo is yelling for a waiter to bring him another drink, but he doesn’t specify what kind drink. There’s a shout of “Tegoshi!” over the music, and he lets go of Shige, meandering off towards the other side of the room. Ryo tugs at Shige’s belt loop, so he pulls another chair over and sits down, only to have Ryo’s upper body fall down in to his lap.
“Wha’ time izzit?”
Shige glances down at his watch, and can’t help but yawn. “Almost 3:30.”
Ryo groans.
There’s laughter from across the table, and Shige looks up, seeing the two men from before in the elevator, the complainer and his friend; A man with a blonde crew-cut in baggy clothes, and a plain-looking guy in general.
“Don’t tell me you’re already tired, Nishikido!” The first says.
Ryo reaches up to the table, grabs a handful of napkins and attempts to throw them across the table.
“Some of us here are actually stars. We’re busy and famous, not that you would know.” Ryo pulls himself back up into a sitting position. “Get the hell away from my table, Tanaka.”
The man, Tanaka, snorts. “This isn’t your table.”
The plain one points to the small sign in the middle of the table which reads ‘reserved for KAT-TUN’ and Shige cocks his head, trying to remember where he knows that name from. But there’s no time, because Ryo’s standing and stomping away, dragging Shige behind him.
“Where’re my keys?”
“You had to put them in that big jar with every one else’s when you got your first drink. Remember?”
Ryo stops and frowns. “No.” Ryo turns to look at the large clock above the elevators, and stares at it intently for a long moment before speaking again. “It’s Go-Home-Time.”
Shige cheers inside his head.
Ryo lets go of his hand, and weaves in and out between the tables, taking the seemingly most difficult path to the elevators. Shige walks around them, avoiding the many toppled over chairs and spilled drinks. They both get to the elevators at the same time. They have to wait for a minute, and when the doors open, a bellboy smiles at them. Ryo swears, and in one move, pulls him out and pushes Shige in. As the doors close, Shige gives the bellboy an apologetic look. Ryo presses the button for the garage.
“You don’t have your keys. And you’re not getting them in this state either.”
Ryo thinks for a second before shouting, “Taxi!” and pressing the button for the lobby. He slumps back against the wall of the elevator, eyeing Shige who’s still standing more or less in the center.
Shige fidgets. “W-what?”
Ryo pushes away from the wall and takes a step closer to Shige, reaching towards him, sliding hands along the waist-line of his jeans and settling on the small of his back. He leans in, his lips ghosting along the shell of Shige’s ear, and Ryo finally settles with his head on Shige’s shoulder, each breath tickling Shige’s collarbone. Neither moves until the elevator beeps and the doors opens. They walk through the lobby - it’s nearly empty, except for the few Johnnies sleeping on couches - closer than two friends would walk, Shige’s hand on Ryo’s elbow, incase the other should suddenly lose his balance.
The taxi driver opens the door for them, and Shige gives him the address to Ryo’s apartment. There’s a curtain between the driver and the backseat, so Ryo indulges himself - half lying down on the bench seat so he can put his head in Shige’s lap. The taxi driver has a late night talk show playing on the radio, and Shige draws pictures in the condensation on the window while Ryo types out drunken text messages to people, letting them know he’d left for the night. The drive goes quickly, since there are almost no other cars out this late. When they arrive, the driver gets out the opens the door for them, again, and has Ryo sign a sheet of paper and Shige finds out that all the taxi’s at the hotel were pre-paid to drive the idols without hotel rooms home after the party. Ryo’s starting to sober up, but Shige still walks half a step behind him, on his toes, in case Ryo trips on the ledge into the elevator, or up into the apartment from the genkan. He doesn’t though, and instead tells Shige to have some confidence in his strength against alcohol.
Ryo strips as he walks down to the hall to the bedroom, ending up in his boxers; Shige goes into the kitchen and pours a large glass of water. He walks with it to the bedroom, where Ryo’s already under the covers, seemingly asleep. Shige puts the glass on the bedside table, and shakes Ryo’s shoulder.
“Drink.”
Ryo groans a negative reply into the pillow.
“Do you want a mild headache tomorrow or a full-blown hangover? Drink the water.”
Ryo groans again, but he rolls over and sits up. Shige puts the glass in his hand and Ryo downs the entire thing in one go. He flops back into bed and mutters something that Shige doesn’t hear. Shige undresses, throwing his clothes into the hamper and pulling on a pair of sweatpants before pulling slipping under the covers. Ryo moves and his hand is sliding across Shige’s stomach, trying to coax him closer. Shige acquiesces, and Ryo’s hand keeps moving until it’s a little under the fabric of Shige’s sweatpants, resting on the curve of his lower back, not staying completely still as it draws idle shapes. Shige sighs, relaxing into the touch, and running a hand of his own through Ryo’s hair.
Ryo leans forward, his forehead against Shige’s, brushing their lips together for just a second. Shige sighs again, whispering Ryo’s name, and upon hearing it, Ryo can’t help but kiss Shige again. There’s a little more force this time, Ryo still drunk enough to know what he’s doing, but it’s all a little bit of a blur and he doesn’t realize his actions until he’s started taking them. Ryo moves his hand from Shige’s back, and uses it to push Shige so he’s lying down, and Ryo crawls to sit between his legs. Shige makes a questioning noise, and Ryo leans down, breathing soft puffs onto Shige’s neck and kisses spots randomly as he chooses. Ryo’s body shifts a little, and he moves his hands to Shige’s hips; one of Shige’s hands is holding on tightly to the sheets, and the other is on Ryo’s shoulder. Ryo tugs at the sweatpants, pulling them mid-way down Shige’s thighs while his mouth works on leaving a hickey on Shige’s collarbone.
When a hand slips inside of his underwear, Shige’s not all that surprised, and can’t help spreading his legs a little wider. Ryo smirks against Shige’s chest and then moves up, kissing Shige wetly. Ryo’s hand moves in slow, sure strokes, and Shige moans, rolling his hips in time with Ryo’s hand. Shige’s hand that isn’t on Ryo, gropes around blindly, and finally lands on Ryo’s back. He slides it Ryo’s back down, skirting against Ryo’s abs and scratching lightly, just above the elastic of Ryo’s boxers. Shige keeps moving his hand down further, rubbing Ryo through the thin fabric. Ryo growls, deep in his chest, and Shige can feel it, and he shudders a little bit.
Ryo draws his hand out of Shige shorts, sits up, and as gracefully as a semi-drunk person can, and pulls the sweatpants and underwear all the way off, throws them on the floor next to the bed and then struggles out of his boxers. When he finally settles again, half-leaning over Shige’s body, Shige knows his face is red, but he’s not sure if it’s from embarrassment or excitement. Ryo is still, seemingly weighing his options, figuring out exactly what he wants to happen, and whether that will coincide with what Shige will want too. But Shige knows Ryo is stubborn, and he’s not really all that good at denying Ryo things to begin with, so Shige runs his hand from Ryo’s hip along his torso, up his back and stopping at his shoulder blade. It’s intimate, and close, and not all that sexual, but Ryo exhales and leans down, kissing Shige on the cheek.
Ryo sits back up, leaning over towards the table next to the bed, digging around in the drawer for a minute before he moves back towards Shige. He takes his time - warming the lube between his hands, lazily stroking Shige to distract him from any discomfort he might be feeling. When he slides in, Ryo keeps one hand on Shige hip, and the other is braced against the mattress, up near Shige’s head. He watches Shige’s face intently, for any signs, because Shige is the kind of person who’ll bite their lip instead of voicing any complaints. When he frowns and his eyebrows grimace the tiniest bit, Ryo stops, softly rubs Shige’s hip and waits. For as long as he needs to, he’ll wait until Shige’s face relaxes and he exhales deeply. When Ryo rolls his hips and Shige rolls back, Ryo grins, and thinks, This is the start of a good year.
-- -- --
For the first time in a long time, Ryo and Shige wake up together without an alarm or phone ringing. They left the blinds open, and it’s a sunny morning, so there’s a stripe of light shining across the bed and the floor. Ryo has shoved his face between Shige’s shoulder and the pillow, trying to find a dark place to stave off sleep from, but Shige’s rubbing his eyes, yawning. Shige tries to sit up, but Ryo throws an arm over his lap and talks into the pillow. Shige laughs, quietly, and lies back down.
-- -- --
It’s around 2:30pm, and Shige can’t stand to stay in bed any longer. He wants to bathe, and his stomach is demanding food. He practically has to fight his way out of bed - Ryo was quite determined for the two of them to spend the entire day there. When he gets out of the shower, he takes a painkiller and a glass of water to Ryo, who swallows the pill, but doesn’t get out of bed. He lays half under the covers, breathing deeply and watching Shige get dressed out of the corner of his eye.
Shige finds some soba noodles in the cabinet and boils them in broth. Ryo shouts from the bedroom for breakfast in bed, and Shige laughs, since it’s already past a normal lunch time. But he indulges Ryo, putting two bowls of noodles on a tray and carrying it into the bedroom. Ryo looks kind of shocked - like he didn’t expect Shige to actually do it. But nevertheless, he happily accepts his soba, and the two of them sit in bed against the headboard, sides pressed together while they eat a late lunch.
PAIRING: Ryo/Shige
RATING: Heavy R
WORD COUNT: 5,554
SUMMARY: Ryo has obligations as an idol. Shige gets dragged along.
NOTES: Whore!verse.
RANDOM TRIVIA: In Japan, Christmas is just an excuse for boyfriends to take their girlfriends on really lavish dates.
The railing on the veranda has a light dusting of snow, and the weatherman is warning residents to watch out for ice on sidewalks.
Shige’s sitting on the couch, sipping on a cup of tea, which has long since lost its warmth. The newscasters bid a goodnight to their viewers and the next show comes up: The Shounen Club.
It’s December 24th, and Shige is sitting on Ryo’s couch, drinking his tea (the nice loose leaf kind) watching him answer stupid questions and perform ridiculous acts in the Christmas Eve Live Special.
-- -- --
For once, Ryo actually looks a little guilty. Shige’s holding a magazine, ranking restaurants in Ginza and Shibuya. The cover has a caricature of a Christmas tree and giant snow flakes.
“A change of plans.”
“Yeah.” Ryo scratches the back of his head. “I don’t really know all the details, but… basically, Kanjani8’s going on now. I’ll be gone all day.”
Shige tosses the magazine onto the coffee table.
“Sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize.” Shige leans back. “These kinds of things are out of your control.”
-- -- --
December is a hectic month for both of them. Shige because it’s the end of the semester, Ryo because he has all the preparations for the Countdown on New Year’s Eve, along now with the rehearsals for the Christmas Special. There’s not much time they’re able to spend together, a dinner here and there, meeting up for lunch or coffee. They text back and forth when they can, but even that’s hard, because they both have work to do that needs to get done. Ryo will send one at noon, and Shige won’t be able to reply until sometime in the evening.
-- -- --
It’s early morning, 2am or so, when the lock clicks, there’s walking in the hallway and Shige feels a heavy weight fall onto the bed. Shige groans and holds tighter onto his pillow. He can hear Ryo stripping off his clothes, and then blankets are moved around and a cold arm wraps around his waist.
“I hate my job sometimes.”
Shige yawns. “December’s almost over.”
At 7:30am, Shige’s alarm goes off and he stumbles out of bed. He gets dressed in the dark, and just as he’s about ready to leave, Ryo grabs the back of his jeans and pulls him backwards, until he falls back in bed. Ryo mumbles something and it’s obvious that he’s only half-awake. Shige rests his head on Ryo’s shoulder, and decides that staying until Ryo’s fallen back asleep is worth being late to class.
-- -- --
Ryo being gone on Christmas Eve was a surprise, but Shige’s known for a while that the Countdown is penned onto every debuted Johnny’s calendar. There is no arguing against it, no getting out of it. Shige’s not even the tiniest bit surprised when he wakes up on December 25th to find Ryo already awake, sitting up in bed, scrolling through text messages, scowling.
“Is it that bad?”
“The logistics, Shige.” Ryo phone beeps and he swears; another new message. “It’s hell. So many people, so many songs and dances, so much space, so little space. Countdown is great, except when it’s not. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. A lot of personal things that have to be pushed aside for a night so the fans will think we’re one big happy family.”
“And you’re not.”
Ryo snorts.
-- -- --
Between the 26th and the 31st, Ryo is more or less constantly absent. Shige can tell he comes back to the apartment, but only because there will be dirty dishes in the sink, or clothes overflowing from the hamper. Occasionally, Shige will get a text message of Ryo’s bitching about other Johnny’s. He even gets one from Ryo’s phone, but is signed ‘Pi’ at the end and is filled with emoticons and little graphics that Ryo says he’s too manly to use.
Shige doesn’t have any class, since it’s into the New Year’s break, and he’s bored alone. He goes home for a few days, and his parents are thrilled at the surprise visit and Shige is promptly stuffed with home cooking. He sleeps in his own bed and plays with his dog, and plans on staying there until New Year’s Day, since he figures Ryo will be out all night partying after the Countdown. That plan changes though on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve.
SENT 2:33 PM
FROM RYO
Where the hell are you?
You need to come back right now.
There’s no explanation and Shige gets worried when Ryo doesn’t pick up when he calls. He leaves a vague note for his parents, telling him a friend in Tokyo needs his help with something. He rushes back into town, running through the train stations, commuters and station staff glaring at him. When he gets back to the apartment, Ryo is sitting on the couch, looking at his phone, completely fine.
“What the hell?”
Ryo looks up. “Oh, took you long enough. It’s been almost two hours.”
Shige frowns. “That’s how long it takes to get from my parent’s house to here.”
“Go take a shower. We need to leave soon.”
“… For where?”
“Tokyo Dome.”
“Excuse me?”
Ryo sighs and stands up. “Tokyo Dome.” He pushes Shige in the direction of the bathroom. “Each group gets to bring a certain number of guests back stage. Yasu wanted to bring his sister. I had to fight him for the pass.”
“What?”
Ryo frowns and Shige figures it would be best to hurry up.
-- -- --
The drive over is a little awkward, because Ryo spends the whole time listing off to Shige all the Johnny’s he should avoid, and saying that it would really be best if he just stayed in the dressing room and watched the whole thing on the closed circuit TV.
“What’s the point of even going then?”
Ryo uses the shoulder to pass a driver. “So that you’ll be there.”
Shige still doesn’t get it, but he lets Ryo have the last word.
-- -- --
When they get to the dome, Ryo drops him off in a waiting room with some other guests while he goes to a fitting. Or something. Shige hadn’t really been paying attention to what Ryo was saying. A middle-aged man in a suit comes in and goes through a list of things the guests may not do, and tells them to stay where they’re supposed to. Sneaking around behind the backs of staff will get them escorted out of the dome. He doesn’t say such actions will reflect negatively upon the inviting-Johnny, but Shige knows it’s implied. For the most part, the guests are older - probably parents or grandparents - and Shige feels like the whole talk is directed towards him.
Afterwards, he’s given a lanyard with a card and it told to wear it around his neck the whole time he’s backstage. On the card is his name, Ryo’s name and Kanjani8 are written neatly, and Shige’s quite sure Ryo didn’t write it. He’s led by a staffer in a yellow shirt to Kanjani8’s room and is greeted by no one.
“It’s into crunch time right now. There’s still 4 hours or so until the start of the concert, but the countdown is a big deal, and they all work together to make it perfect,” the staffer says and then leaves.
Shige’s attention is immediately drawn to the TV in one corner, flipping through the angles of various cameras every so often, a picture of a crossed out speaker in the bottom left corner. He presses the volume button on the TV and the room fills with sound.
“I know Mary-san really wanted that fringe on Arashi’s costumes, but if one of them is even the tiniest bit off in the dance, some one will trip, and then they’ll all fall down. Remove it. Next…. Alright, so Arashi walks down, singing.” The camera angle changes, showing center stage from the audience’s point of view. “After them, Kanjani8 walks- Yamashita-kun, please return to your side.” There’s a pause and then Shige can see Yamashita run across the stage. “Thank you. Kanjani8 comes down, every one please remember to stay in step. Yasuda-kun, that means you need to speed up, Maruyama-kun and Ohkura-kun need to slow down.”
The camera changes again, and this time, Tegoshi’s making faces in to the camera, Shige can only barely hear the conversation over the stage manager talking.
“Tegoshi, no one’s watching the closed circuit right now.”
“I bet some one is.” Tegoshi makes a grimace and then laughs.
Shige keeps watching as the cameras change, watching the groups go through the steps of the concert, every so often, some one making a face into the camera. Shige relaxes on the couch and watches, for lack of anything better to do. The clock keeps ticking, and after what feels like only a few minutes, the stage director is dismissing all the groups to have their final warm-ups and touch ups before the concert starts.
Shige jerks up, and looks around, wondering if he’s expected here, if he’ll be in any one’s way. For a minute, he debates going back to the first room he was in, but soon enough Kanjani8 is filing in, and they seem to have far better things to do than acknowledge Shige’s presence on the couch. Murakami is frantically trying to fix the part in his hair, Ohkura is digging through his bag, looking for something, Yasuda and Yokoyama are both absent from the room. Maruyama sits down in a chair and closes his eyes. The couch dips next to Shige when Ryo sits down, but he too seems pre-occupied.
“I’d like to have New Year’s in Osaka again one of these years.”
“Ah,” Shibutani sighs, “those were the good days.”
“It’s the price of fame,” Ohkura says from over his bag.
A staffer walks through the hall and calls for places in 5 minutes. Murakami leaves the room, and is soon followed by Ohkura. Ryo moves around in his seat, looking in the directions of Maruyama and Shibutani, and then makes a choking kind of face and puts his head on Shige’s shoulder.
“The after-party,” he whispers.
“I’ll leave that to you.”
Ryo laughs, and at the same moment, Maruyama stands up and tells Ryo they have to leave soon. He doesn’t immediately move his head, so Maruyama comes over and kicks his foot. Ryo kicks back. Shige pats Ryo on the leg. Maruyama leaves and Ryo lingers for another minute, breathing deeply, his eyes closed.
-- -- --
Shige spends most of the concert in the dressing room. He doesn’t feel comfortable wandering around backstage alone, and feels a little guilty because Ryo brought him here to enjoy the experience. Near the end, when the emotions are high and Shige can feel the rumble of the sub-woofers through the floor, he meanders out of the room. The halls are strangely empty - only a few staffers. They point out the few places he’s allowed to watch from on a map quickly, and then push him out of the way so they can get back to work. Shige follows the map, but he still gets lost, and he’s not all the surprised. He finds the end of a hallway; it’s wide and filled with racks of clothing and at the far end is a large doorway, and Shige thinks he can see bright colored lights through it. The music in this room is a lot louder, and he figures he’s much closer to the stage than he was back in the dressing room. A few staffers give him strange looks, but they don’t tell him to leave.
There’s an especially loud roar from the sub-woofer, the sound of screaming girls, and then there’s a flood of Johnny’s coming through the doorway. They’re clapping each other on the back, shouting, “Happy New Year’s!” and stripping off articles of clothing as they walk. They all seem to know exactly where to go, and watching them all is like watching a well choreographed dance. He doesn’t completely realize he’s standing in the way until some Johnnies walks up to the rack near him, and practically starts throwing clothes around. Shige can’t help his natural response to pick up the clothes (at least off the floor), and he slowly gets a little crowd around him, different people handing him their clothes like he’s a staffer. None of them take the time to look at his guest badge, or the confused look on his face. He’s slowly disappearing behind a mountain of clothes and there’s a hand on his shoulder, Shige turns, and sees Tegoshi smiling at him.
“Hi, Shige!”
“Um, hello.” Shige tries to shift the clothes a little. “Do you think you cou-“
“I’m surprised to see you here! Ryo-chan must have gotten you in! Ryo-chan’s really nice, isn’t he? Shige, let’s talk more at the after-party!”
And then Tegoshi walks away, oblivious to Shige’s plight. After 10 minutes, the room is deserted, and the staffers are putting these away. Shige coughs, and one finally turns to look at him. She walks over and takes half the arm-full of clothes.
“What are you doing?” She takes a closer look at Shige. “Who are you?”
“Um, I’m-“
She looks at his guest badge, frowns, and takes the rest of the clothes. “Go back to the dressing rooms.”
Shige apologizes for the trouble he’s caused and after probably twice as long as it should have taken, he finds his way back to Kanjani8’s dressing room. Every one is stretched out, nearly passed out on the floor, Yokoyama and Murakami on the couches. When Shige steps inside, he immediately trips on Yasuda legs and lands half on Ryo, half on Ohkura.
Ryo groans but doesn’t moves. Ohkura mutters something about how they have to get up for the party. Shige quickly moves off them.
“Would it really be so bad if we skipped?” Yasuda mumbles.
There’s a loud “yes” amidst the chorus of answers, and Murakami sits up from his place on the couch.
“Yes,” he repeats. “We have to go. And the longer we lay around, the harder it’s going to be to actually get up.”
No one moves.
“And all the hot water will be gone.”
And suddenly, there’s a flurry of movement. Yokoyama rolls off the couch and starts crawling towards the door. Ohkura and Yasuda both manage to stand up and use the walls for balance. Murakami stumbles up too, and drags Maruyama to his feet, and then gives Shige an imploring look, before helping Maruyama out.
“Ryo. Get up.”
He groans, and rolls onto his other side.
“You have to go to that party, right? Get up. You’ll complain later if there’s no hot water.”
Shige scoots closer to Ryo and tugs on his arm, but he just mumbles something that sounds like, “sleep”. Shige frowns, and stands, taking Ryo’s arm with him.
“You smell!” Shige starts walking, dragging Ryo behind him (sort of). “Go shower!”
Some how, Shige manages to get Ryo almost all the way to the door, before he finally stands up on his own, pulling his arm out of Shige grasp, and wrapping it around Shige’s shoulders.
“You really can’t understand how exhausted I am right now.”
“That’s not the point,” Shige replies, and he’s surprised at how soft his tone is.
“The party is going to go on for forever. It’s New Year’s.”
“Don’t ask me to wait up for you.”
“You’re going to have to.” Ryo smiles. “Cause you’re coming too.”
Shige blanches, and Ryo finally steps away from Kanjani8’s dressing room and heads for the showers.
-- -- --
They’re in Ryo’s car. Shige in the front seat, Yasuda, Shibutani and Yokoyama shoved into the backseat. Ryo’s talking with the three of them about idol things, and Shige’s still trying to think of an excuse to get out of this after-party. It’s somewhere in Ginza, the top floor of a posh hotel with a 360 degree view of the entire city. Shige’s wearing the jeans and jacket from earlier in the day. Ryo and others are far better dressed - brand names and expensive looking fabric. Once again, Shige is feeling awkward, unprepared, and utterly dreading this party.
-- -- --
In the lobby, every one waits their turn and older Johnny’s are allowed to go to the front of the line for the elevators. It’s a tall building and the ride up takes a while. The hotel staff looks stressed, and the Shige’s pretty sure half of the Johnny’s are already drunk. Ryo’s on his left side, arms pressed together, but Ryo’s looking in the other direction, having a wordless conversation with Ohkura who’s over by the bar. On the other side of Shige is Yamashita, smiling, waiting for a chance to talk with Ryo. Shige’s tense and all he really wants to do is go home. But he doesn’t have money for a taxi, and he doesn’t even really know where he is right now besides “Ginza”. Behind him, he can hear some one young wondering aloud how easy getting booze will be this year, in front of him, an older group is taking bets on who will get the drunkest and Shige starts wondering if he was dragged along with the sole purpose of babysitting drunken Ryo.
Ohkura comes back, balancing several drinks in the crook of his arms, Ryo grabs one and downs half of it in one go. Yamashita laughs, takes a drink as well, but only sips at it lightly. Shige doesn’t move for a drink, until Ohkura looks at him and then down at a purple-ish red drink. Shige sighs and takes it, mostly just so Ohkura won’t have to hold it any more. The line moves forward a little bit.
“I like this place better than last year,” Yamashita finally says, to break the silence.
Ryo snorts. “I’m surprised you even remember last year’s party.”
Ohkura laughs, and Yamashita blushes and tries to kick Ryo, but it’s hard with Shige between them.
They line moves again, and Shige realizes he has to find a reason to leave soon, because they’ll probably be in the next elevator.
“Um, Ryo, I think I-“
“No.”
Shige frowns. “Let me finish!”
“I know what you’re going to say.” Ryo takes another drink. “And you’re not leaving. I had to fight Yasuda for all this, so you have to stay here and appreciate my hard work.”
From somewhere behind them, Yasuda shouts something about his sister, but his words are slurred a little and the lobby is very loud to begin with.
Shige leans closer to Ryo, speaking under his breath, “I’m really not comfortable.”
“Drink more. You’ll get comfortable.”
The elevator beeps and opens and Shige gets a little frantic, grabbing onto Ryo’s arm with his free hand. “Can’t we go home?”
Ryo stills and seems to consider it for a minute. “As nice as that sounds, no. I have to stay long enough for every one important to get so drunk they don’t care if I leave or not.”
“Ryo-“
People from behind are pushing, and Shige’s getting closer to the elevator and tries to find another way out of it, but Ryo is firm on his left, and Yamashita is happily oblivious, smiling on his right. He gets shoved into the elevator, and it’s like riding the subway during rush hour. He losses sight of Ryo, Ohkura and Yamashita in the mass, and it only makes him even more uncomfortable and unhappy. The doors slide closed and there are several muffled conversations going on, and Shige closes his eyes and hopes it won’t take too long.
To his right, there’s some one talking in an irritated tone, with another person telling them calm down, it’s bad to start the New Year’s off on such a bad note. In front of him are some of the younger Johnny’s, trying to convince the tallest of their bunch to trick the bartender into thinking he’s old enough to drink. Behind him, he thinks he hears Ryo talking with Yamashita in a hushed tone.
Shige can’t see his watch, but he’s pretty sure that it’s around 1am, 1:30am at the latest. How long do idol parties usually run? Two or three hours? So 3:30am. If there was a wall in front of him, Shige would bash his forehead into it.
The elevator beeps, and the doors open and it’s a mass exodus out into the room, and Shige seems to be the only one amazed at the sight. He stop right outside the elevator doors, like the non-idol he is and takes in the many ice sculptures, bars step up along the walls, the karaoke machines. There’s a hand on the small on his back, and Shige is ready to turn and punch, but it’s only Ryo, holding a now empty glass in his other hand.
“Don’t be such a kid.”
Shige frowns.
“Let’s go get another drink.”
“I haven’t finished mine yet.”
Ryo looks down at Shige’s hand, at the glass, still nearly filled with the purple-ish red drink. “Did you want something with scotch instead?”
“What? No. That’s not the point here.”
“Drink it, Shige.”
And then Ryo’s walking off towards the bar, and Shige has to hurry to follow, because while he really doesn’t want to be here, the party will be just that much worse if he loses Ryo in the sea of people.
-- -- --
Ryo’s on his second Cosmopolitan, which was immediately preceded by a Martini and Long Island Iced Tea. Shige’s on his second purple-ish red drink, but it’s warmed up, so he’s actually not drinking it any more. But Ryo’s a bit too gone to notice that Shige never has a new drink. Ryo has an arm tight around Shige’s hip, and Tegoshi’s holding on his available arm, muttering something about cell phones, and Shige just really wishes he was some where else. There’s a shout, and another round of cheers and Ryo starts stumbling towards a half-filled table, declaring it’s time to sit. When they get there, Ryo nearly misses the chair entirely, and Shige has to quickly scoot it over with his foot. Tegoshi claps awkwardly and Ryo is yelling for a waiter to bring him another drink, but he doesn’t specify what kind drink. There’s a shout of “Tegoshi!” over the music, and he lets go of Shige, meandering off towards the other side of the room. Ryo tugs at Shige’s belt loop, so he pulls another chair over and sits down, only to have Ryo’s upper body fall down in to his lap.
“Wha’ time izzit?”
Shige glances down at his watch, and can’t help but yawn. “Almost 3:30.”
Ryo groans.
There’s laughter from across the table, and Shige looks up, seeing the two men from before in the elevator, the complainer and his friend; A man with a blonde crew-cut in baggy clothes, and a plain-looking guy in general.
“Don’t tell me you’re already tired, Nishikido!” The first says.
Ryo reaches up to the table, grabs a handful of napkins and attempts to throw them across the table.
“Some of us here are actually stars. We’re busy and famous, not that you would know.” Ryo pulls himself back up into a sitting position. “Get the hell away from my table, Tanaka.”
The man, Tanaka, snorts. “This isn’t your table.”
The plain one points to the small sign in the middle of the table which reads ‘reserved for KAT-TUN’ and Shige cocks his head, trying to remember where he knows that name from. But there’s no time, because Ryo’s standing and stomping away, dragging Shige behind him.
“Where’re my keys?”
“You had to put them in that big jar with every one else’s when you got your first drink. Remember?”
Ryo stops and frowns. “No.” Ryo turns to look at the large clock above the elevators, and stares at it intently for a long moment before speaking again. “It’s Go-Home-Time.”
Shige cheers inside his head.
Ryo lets go of his hand, and weaves in and out between the tables, taking the seemingly most difficult path to the elevators. Shige walks around them, avoiding the many toppled over chairs and spilled drinks. They both get to the elevators at the same time. They have to wait for a minute, and when the doors open, a bellboy smiles at them. Ryo swears, and in one move, pulls him out and pushes Shige in. As the doors close, Shige gives the bellboy an apologetic look. Ryo presses the button for the garage.
“You don’t have your keys. And you’re not getting them in this state either.”
Ryo thinks for a second before shouting, “Taxi!” and pressing the button for the lobby. He slumps back against the wall of the elevator, eyeing Shige who’s still standing more or less in the center.
Shige fidgets. “W-what?”
Ryo pushes away from the wall and takes a step closer to Shige, reaching towards him, sliding hands along the waist-line of his jeans and settling on the small of his back. He leans in, his lips ghosting along the shell of Shige’s ear, and Ryo finally settles with his head on Shige’s shoulder, each breath tickling Shige’s collarbone. Neither moves until the elevator beeps and the doors opens. They walk through the lobby - it’s nearly empty, except for the few Johnnies sleeping on couches - closer than two friends would walk, Shige’s hand on Ryo’s elbow, incase the other should suddenly lose his balance.
The taxi driver opens the door for them, and Shige gives him the address to Ryo’s apartment. There’s a curtain between the driver and the backseat, so Ryo indulges himself - half lying down on the bench seat so he can put his head in Shige’s lap. The taxi driver has a late night talk show playing on the radio, and Shige draws pictures in the condensation on the window while Ryo types out drunken text messages to people, letting them know he’d left for the night. The drive goes quickly, since there are almost no other cars out this late. When they arrive, the driver gets out the opens the door for them, again, and has Ryo sign a sheet of paper and Shige finds out that all the taxi’s at the hotel were pre-paid to drive the idols without hotel rooms home after the party. Ryo’s starting to sober up, but Shige still walks half a step behind him, on his toes, in case Ryo trips on the ledge into the elevator, or up into the apartment from the genkan. He doesn’t though, and instead tells Shige to have some confidence in his strength against alcohol.
Ryo strips as he walks down to the hall to the bedroom, ending up in his boxers; Shige goes into the kitchen and pours a large glass of water. He walks with it to the bedroom, where Ryo’s already under the covers, seemingly asleep. Shige puts the glass on the bedside table, and shakes Ryo’s shoulder.
“Drink.”
Ryo groans a negative reply into the pillow.
“Do you want a mild headache tomorrow or a full-blown hangover? Drink the water.”
Ryo groans again, but he rolls over and sits up. Shige puts the glass in his hand and Ryo downs the entire thing in one go. He flops back into bed and mutters something that Shige doesn’t hear. Shige undresses, throwing his clothes into the hamper and pulling on a pair of sweatpants before pulling slipping under the covers. Ryo moves and his hand is sliding across Shige’s stomach, trying to coax him closer. Shige acquiesces, and Ryo’s hand keeps moving until it’s a little under the fabric of Shige’s sweatpants, resting on the curve of his lower back, not staying completely still as it draws idle shapes. Shige sighs, relaxing into the touch, and running a hand of his own through Ryo’s hair.
Ryo leans forward, his forehead against Shige’s, brushing their lips together for just a second. Shige sighs again, whispering Ryo’s name, and upon hearing it, Ryo can’t help but kiss Shige again. There’s a little more force this time, Ryo still drunk enough to know what he’s doing, but it’s all a little bit of a blur and he doesn’t realize his actions until he’s started taking them. Ryo moves his hand from Shige’s back, and uses it to push Shige so he’s lying down, and Ryo crawls to sit between his legs. Shige makes a questioning noise, and Ryo leans down, breathing soft puffs onto Shige’s neck and kisses spots randomly as he chooses. Ryo’s body shifts a little, and he moves his hands to Shige’s hips; one of Shige’s hands is holding on tightly to the sheets, and the other is on Ryo’s shoulder. Ryo tugs at the sweatpants, pulling them mid-way down Shige’s thighs while his mouth works on leaving a hickey on Shige’s collarbone.
When a hand slips inside of his underwear, Shige’s not all that surprised, and can’t help spreading his legs a little wider. Ryo smirks against Shige’s chest and then moves up, kissing Shige wetly. Ryo’s hand moves in slow, sure strokes, and Shige moans, rolling his hips in time with Ryo’s hand. Shige’s hand that isn’t on Ryo, gropes around blindly, and finally lands on Ryo’s back. He slides it Ryo’s back down, skirting against Ryo’s abs and scratching lightly, just above the elastic of Ryo’s boxers. Shige keeps moving his hand down further, rubbing Ryo through the thin fabric. Ryo growls, deep in his chest, and Shige can feel it, and he shudders a little bit.
Ryo draws his hand out of Shige shorts, sits up, and as gracefully as a semi-drunk person can, and pulls the sweatpants and underwear all the way off, throws them on the floor next to the bed and then struggles out of his boxers. When he finally settles again, half-leaning over Shige’s body, Shige knows his face is red, but he’s not sure if it’s from embarrassment or excitement. Ryo is still, seemingly weighing his options, figuring out exactly what he wants to happen, and whether that will coincide with what Shige will want too. But Shige knows Ryo is stubborn, and he’s not really all that good at denying Ryo things to begin with, so Shige runs his hand from Ryo’s hip along his torso, up his back and stopping at his shoulder blade. It’s intimate, and close, and not all that sexual, but Ryo exhales and leans down, kissing Shige on the cheek.
Ryo sits back up, leaning over towards the table next to the bed, digging around in the drawer for a minute before he moves back towards Shige. He takes his time - warming the lube between his hands, lazily stroking Shige to distract him from any discomfort he might be feeling. When he slides in, Ryo keeps one hand on Shige hip, and the other is braced against the mattress, up near Shige’s head. He watches Shige’s face intently, for any signs, because Shige is the kind of person who’ll bite their lip instead of voicing any complaints. When he frowns and his eyebrows grimace the tiniest bit, Ryo stops, softly rubs Shige’s hip and waits. For as long as he needs to, he’ll wait until Shige’s face relaxes and he exhales deeply. When Ryo rolls his hips and Shige rolls back, Ryo grins, and thinks, This is the start of a good year.
-- -- --
For the first time in a long time, Ryo and Shige wake up together without an alarm or phone ringing. They left the blinds open, and it’s a sunny morning, so there’s a stripe of light shining across the bed and the floor. Ryo has shoved his face between Shige’s shoulder and the pillow, trying to find a dark place to stave off sleep from, but Shige’s rubbing his eyes, yawning. Shige tries to sit up, but Ryo throws an arm over his lap and talks into the pillow. Shige laughs, quietly, and lies back down.
-- -- --
It’s around 2:30pm, and Shige can’t stand to stay in bed any longer. He wants to bathe, and his stomach is demanding food. He practically has to fight his way out of bed - Ryo was quite determined for the two of them to spend the entire day there. When he gets out of the shower, he takes a painkiller and a glass of water to Ryo, who swallows the pill, but doesn’t get out of bed. He lays half under the covers, breathing deeply and watching Shige get dressed out of the corner of his eye.
Shige finds some soba noodles in the cabinet and boils them in broth. Ryo shouts from the bedroom for breakfast in bed, and Shige laughs, since it’s already past a normal lunch time. But he indulges Ryo, putting two bowls of noodles on a tray and carrying it into the bedroom. Ryo looks kind of shocked - like he didn’t expect Shige to actually do it. But nevertheless, he happily accepts his soba, and the two of them sit in bed against the headboard, sides pressed together while they eat a late lunch.