Anime: Gravitation
Pairing: multiple pairings, final pairing not decided. Read to find out.
Rating: PG-13 for now. Rating might go up.
Disclaimer: I do not own gravitation or its characters. They belong to the wonderful Maki Murakami.
A/N: I hope you enjoy the first chapter of the story. I should be posting new chapters regularly so if you like it stop back for more! On with the show! 333
"Deceptive Cadence"
By: make me shiny
Chapter One
Morning poured through the windows of Eiri's apartment and filled the rooms to the breaking point with light. Eiri cursed this act of nature even in his sleep. The author grumbled and tugged at the blanket that was only partly covering his lean form. He tugged only to be foiled in his pursuit of warmth. He opened his eyes irritably to try to make sense of why the blanket seemed to be stuck somewhere. It was too early for this he thought to himself as he glanced through blurry sleep deprived eyes. His vision seemed to piece itself back together a little better with each second he managed to keep them open and finally it picked out the sleeping figure next to him with the other half of his blanket wrapped snugly around it. Eiri raised an eyebrow. How lovely. It just seemed to be one mystery right after the other this fine morning. Eiri rolled his eyes lazily and craned his neck to try and figure out who the fuck was occupying his bed and more importantly why; though Eiri was fairly sure he knew what he and mystery person number two hundred and thirty-seven had been doing.
Slowly he reached over, tugged the blanket from around the other person, and was greeted with light blonde hair. Eiri swallowing hard, watched as the 'stranger' rolled over, and reached out to him. The author's lips parted slightly as his sister's husband curled up against him and wrapped his arms around his waist still sleeping it seemed. One million and one emotions is what Eiri felt at that very moment. First came anger, and quickly after came confusion and guilt. Those were the only ones he could distinguish from the bottomless pit of feelings welling inside of him. He was at a loss for what to do next, subsequently causing him to revert to his default defense mechanism. The writer practically ripped himself from the keyboardist's far too comfortable grip on him. He stood thankfully noting that he did in fact have pants on; though if that meant anything he didn't know. He felt the pounding in his head as he stood too fast. He had a hangover. Anything could have happened.
"Mmm? Eiri?" Tohma's voice called out to him sleepily as the producer reached for what was not there. Blonde strands fell into his eyes as he moved to grab onto the author and he opened them when he found nothing. Jade eyes looked at him then. They were filled with tiredness and confusion. Eiri didn't move or say anything. He just allowed silence to claim them. It was somewhat tense and very much unwelcome by both men. "Eiri…" Tohma finally broke through the silence. "Come back to bed." He attempted to coax him gently by moving the covers to reveal the space where Tohma felt he should be next to him.
Eiri just eyed him. He wanted to know what had happened the previous night, and he wanted to know fast but he was afraid of the answer. He was afraid to listen as Tohma danced around the fact that they had most likely slept together as gingerly as possible. He hated that. Tohma candy coated everything for him to the point that it was sickening. He was not a child and he was not about to be treated as such.
"What happened last night Seguchi?" The writer's harsh words broke Tohma causing his eye contact to faulter downward for a moment. Eiri could always bring him to his knees so easily. He hated that. Even if he didn't always show that he was broken, it still settled horribly inside of him. He managed to hold face and get his points and feeling across without showing weakness on the outside quite well essentially. However, inside was a different story completely.
"Last night?" Tohma offered those as his only words.
"Don't play dumb with me Tohma." EIri snapped at him as he ran his fingers through his golden blonde hair. He was not in the mood for games, especially not Tohma's. His were of the worst kind.
"I'm not." Tohma insisted sitting up in bed holding the blanket to his chest. His eyes stayed locked with Eiri's seriously and made damn sure not to falter in his gaze.
"Mmm." Eiri let the sound out unconvinced. Damn Tohma. It wasn't fair that convincing people that he was right about everything happened to be a big part of his job. He had had far too much practice at fooling people for Eiri's liking. "I suppose you don't remember either?" He asked eyeing Tohma and silently trying to crack his hastily put together façade.
"We both had a few drinks…" Tohma reminded him as if that little bit of information would tame Eiri though after all of his years spent with the author he knew deep down that, it wouldn't.
"I've already figured that out on my own with a little help and hinting from my unrelenting migraine." Eiri informed him roughly. Tohma just nodded.
"Oh." Tohma said softly looking down at the sheets again. He knew what it was Eiri wanted to know. He knew it and it's answer but still he stayed silent. His slender fingers traced over the folds of the sheets as visions from the other night flashed through his mind. The visions were beautiful and vivid as they were still fresh in his mind then. As Tohma replayed the previous night in his mind Eiri began to get impatient.
"Answers. Give them to me." The author more than ordered the other blonde causing Tohma's attention to be swayed and his personal visions of what he considered perfection to be interrupted.
"I don't kn-" Tohma started but was cut off as Eiri lost what little patience he had been holding for the other man.
"You DO know." Eiri insisted as he moved closer towards the bed where Tohma sat. Tohma bit his bottom lip as he witnessed the novelist's anger. It was most certainly not the first time he had seen Eiri upset and he was sure it would not turn out to be the last, so he took it in stride.
"Are you asking me if we slept together?" Tohma asked him. If Eiri wanted him to be forward then so be it.
"Yes." He replied hastily just before the anxiety from the awaited response set in. Jade met Gold in that moment as they both studied each other. Eiri was searching for an answer within the producer's eyes, and Tohma was searching for Eiri's heart along with the secrets it held. What did Eiri want to hear? That was what he needed to know. He watched fixedly as he waited for the soft flicker in Eiri's glance that he knew would come if he just stared long enough. Eiri always gave him answers in time. That seemed to be true for almost every circumstance. The answers always came. Whether said answers were a conscious decision or not was still wrapped in the air of mystery that was Yuki Eiri. Tohma watched until the moment he saw Eiri's eyes falter in that instant.
"No. We did not" Came his reply in response to Eiri's question and watched as his brother-in-law let out a soft sigh of relief. Good, he had chosen the correct answer. He watched as Eiri seemed to relax. He was happy that Eiri was happy with his answer, but he himself now had to carry his heavy heart. Tohma offered the author a soft smile before he pushed away the blanket he had been holding and moved to grab his shirt that had been discarded so easily hours ago, from the floor. He put it on in silence buttoning the buttons smoothly and efficiently.
Eiri watched the other man put his shirt back on. He dully noted how loosely the shirt hung on Tohma's lean frame. He was getting thinner. Eiri assumed it was all of the stress that the stupid man put himself through. He didn't need to work all of the time. Eiri got bored with looking at Tohma after a moment and reached for his cigarettes on the nightstand. His eyes fell on the lone cigarette butt in the ashtray next to the pack and he noted that it had been smoked down to the filter. Perhaps Tohma was right when he told him that he in fact had a nicotine addiction (as if it hadn't been beautifully obvious). He took a drag off of the now lit cigarette and breathed in a lungful of smoke. It immediately began working to relieve any stress he had at that moment. The writer glanced towards the window where the sun that had awoken him from his slumber still cramped the entire style and feel of his personal living space. Maybe he was a vampire just as Tohma had always jokingly told him he was. Eiri laughed lightly at that thought, almost smiling.
"Well.." Tohma' voice broke through his moment of uncharacteristic chuckling. "I'm going to get to work. I'm already late. I should have been there already. I have a meeting in an hour's time." He said glancing at his watch halfheartedly.
"Isn't the beauty of making your own hours to prevent such things as you being late from existing?" Eiri asked with a cocked eyebrow and a smirk.
"Oh aren't we clever this morning?" Tohma asked unable to smile even through the pain he was feeling at the lie he had told a few minutes ago.
"Mm…as always." Eiri informed him and took another hit off of his vice and turned to look towards that damn sun again and silently cursed its existence. Tohma's became saddened as he looked at the novelist then. He could see how thin Eiri was getting. He worked himself too hard and in Tohma's opinion could use a vacation.
"Let's make sure to eat something today hmm?" Tohma found the fact that he had to remind and practically beg Eiri to eat something most of the time a bit unnerving. Of course he would call him later to check up.
"I'll be fine Seguchi." Eiri insisted as he put the spent cigarette out next to the other. "I don't need a sitter." He informed him matter-of-factly as he exited the room seemingly done with that particular conversation. Tohma took that as his cue to go.
"I will call you sometime later today." The producer forewarned him before being unable to help himself and kissing the author on the cheek. "Have a good day Eiri." Tohma ordered him in a soft manner before turning from him and making his way out of the apartment. Eiri's eyes followed the blonde out as he leaned against the wall with his arms folded over his chest. His head was killing him.
The keyboardist closed the door behind him and sighed. He hated what he had done but he supposed it was for the best. He had lied for Eiri. He had pushed his own feelings and desires and needs aside to accommodate the other man. It always seemed to happen that way. His world had seemed to revolve around Eiri since the beginning. He was in his thoughts, his heart, his soul, and his music. He had lied to protect him. But when was he going to start protecting himself? He feared that the answer was never. He would always put his own feelings second to Eiri's as long as he lived. It was a curse: one that would haunt him for all of his days.
"Damn you Eiri…" He whispered before wiping a single tear from his cheek and exiting the apartment building. He could recover from this. That one tear was nothing compared to the thousands he had already shed.