Title: The Job Offer

Author: JLRivera aka jenriv89

Fandom: Yellow

Rating/Genre: M; General, Angst, Romance

Word Count: 5,833

Warnings: Spoilers for manga and EX; smut

Summary: When Taki receives some news about Goh, he can't help but keep secrets. Post-canon.

Notes: Betaed by compli_cait. Thanks for putting up with me! ^_^

The Job Offer

It had already been a couple of months since Goh had had to step in one evening at Zebra and mix drinks, talk to women, and actually work. So when the owner of Zebra, Madeleine Morikawa, called Taki to her office to "discuss something of importance," Taki was confused as to what it could be about. He'd been on time to all of his shifts and had done all of his work impeccably. In fact, the only thing that his boss could complain about was that Taki had always calmly rejected all the women that pursued him. Of course, that was a personal thing; there was no way that Madeleine, or Maddie as she'd asked him to call her, would consider "something of importance." Nor would she bring it up in a negative light since he knew she had her eye on him romantically as well.

Taki sat down in the slightly uncomfortable chair in front of "Maddie's" desk and watched her curiously as she glided over to her leather desk chair. Taki tried not to notice the lustful look she gave him before she "accidentally" dropped the pen she was holding and bent over to pick it up. Hmm…interesting choice of underwear with such a short skirt…

"Taki," she started as she tucked a lock of her auburn hair behind her ear, "I've been meaning to talk about this for about a month now…"

"Really?" he smiled kindly.

"Yes, we've been getting a lot of feedback from customers about our bartenders here…"

"Oh," he murmured. Have customers been complaining about me? "Is that so?"

"Mmhmm, you are the unanimous favorite," she licked her lips before she continued, "We've actually been getting a lot of requests about someone you brought in to help with a rush a couple of months ago. What was his name again?"

"Oh, you mean Goh? People…liked him?"

"Very much so! The ladies loved his attentiveness, his charisma, and his willingness to learn to make drinks. Very similar to what they've said about you, actually…"

"I'll be sure to pass these compliments on to Goh when I see him," he replied politely.

"I thought you would do that. Also, be sure to tell him to give me a call. I'd like to offer him a job here."

Taki was a little horrified by the idea. He could already imagine what would happen if they worked together daily and then went home together daily. Goh would foolishly act on his possessive impulses and start being rude to the customers. And then both of them would be out of a job. "Um, I would Madeleine, but he would decline on the spot. He hates working long hours…" Taki winced inwardly. He'd just made Goh sound like a lazy ass who could only handle working part-time jobs.

"Well…" 'Maddie' hesitated and lightly scratched at her temple with one of her long, painted fingernails, "…please, give him my phone number anyway."

"Will do…" Taki replied glumly.

"Oh, and you have the rest of today off," 'Maddie' smiled sweetly.

"…I do?"

"Yeah, you've had to pull a lot of overtime this week, you deserve a break. We've already called someone to cover your shift."

"Wow…thank you; that's very nice of you." He got up slowly, held out his hand to shake Madeleine's, and, after doing so, took his leave.

Taki mused to himself as he stepped out of her office and walked past the row of bamboo plants against the black walls and ducked into the employee locker room. He sat down on one of the benches dejectedly and put his head in his hands.

There was another reason he was so unwilling to pass along the job offer to Goh. The last time he came, Goh had won the attention of all the young ladies on their barhopping journeys and Taki had realized exactly how possessive he'd become of his partner. It was embarrassing because he'd never been so jealously protective of anyone, nor had he ever kept anyone around for this long. Seeing the way women fawned over Goh had been infuriating, but Taki had had to school his features, pretend that he had no vested interest in the man, and make drinks for the customers who'd come his way.

Taki decided that being perpetually jealous wasn't worth having Goh provide for them. Goh's role as 'kept man' was tiring, for sure, but in all honesty, Taki didn't mind it enough to tell him about the job offer at Zebra. I won't tell him… he decided.

Guilt swept over him. He'd sworn to Goh that after what happened with Sandfish, there would be no more secrets between them. And now he was going to break that promise? But it was such a tiny secret, Goh wouldn't mind… Would he?

He would. There was no doubt. Goh would mind. Or was there?

Taki made his way home, still debating with himself about the significance of keeping The Job Offer secret. But if there was one way to mend things, in the event of a screw-up, Taki could always give him amazing sex. If there was one thing that could solve their problems, it was sex. Whoever said that communication was the key to any relationship was with someone whose sex served the purpose of procreation and nothing else.

Before Taki knew it, he was home. He continued on auto-pilot as he retreated into his head, promising that he would deliver a pre-emptive strike and do anything sexual that Goh wanted to. Not that it was such a bad punishment, but usually he resisted some of Goh's advances.

He lingered at the door a moment longer, convincing himself that he was making the right decision. Upon walking inside, he called out, "Goh! You here?"

Goh replied, "Yeah, I'm in the bedroom!"

Taki took off his shoes and put them on the rack near the door, then proceeded to take off all of his clothes, and walked –clothes in hand– the short distance past the TV area into the bedroom. He leaned against the doorframe and murmured, "Surprise," before tossing his ball of clothes into Goh's lap.

Goh looked over and his jaw dropped, but he quickly closed his mouth and swallowed. He stared at the clothes in his lap and tossed them on the floor before swallowing again.

Taki smiled upon seeing Goh's reaction and slowly walked toward the bed where he was sitting with papers spread out around him. Taki felt his lover's eyes on him as he picked up all of the papers and set them on the nightstand right next to the bed. Goh watched Taki sit down at the edge of the bed and lean in for a kiss.

"Is it my birthday" Goh asked, confused with this extreme change in routine.

"Something like that…" he trailed off, kissing Goh ardently.

Goh, still in shock, didn't respond for a moment, but noticed that Taki's kisses were forced and somewhat hesitant. He tried to shake the observations from his mind, but as soon as he rid himself of these details –as well as his clothes–, he began noticing other strange deviations from their foreplay routine. Nevertheless, Goh found his rhythm and Taki began loosening up…that is, until Kanji's loud and obnoxious voice interrupted the moment.

"GOH! TAKI! IT'S ME, KANJI!" The door slammed shut. Why hadn't Taki locked the door on his way in?

"Yeah, we can tell! Now, PIPE DOWN," both men called out in response as they reluctantly pulled on boxers, then jeans, and finally their shirts. As they walked out to the living room to meet Kanji, Goh tentatively put his arm around Taki's shoulders, hoping that the small gesture of affection wouldn't be enough to earn him a reprimand…or a punch to the face. Instead of protesting, however, Taki responded by sliding his arm around Goh's waist and slipping his hand in the other's back pocket.

"Sorry," Kanji began sheepishly, "I was just so excited to see your new place!"

"Kanji. Voice," Goh interjected.

"Right," he said quietly. "I just wanted to let you know that Tsunuga is back from his long vacation and needs some snatchers…"

Goh and Taki looked at each other, eyebrows raised. The blond shook his head slightly and just watched Goh as he answered, "No thanks. After what happened with Sandfish, there's no way I'm letting Taki get back out there." His mother-hen response earned him a pinch to the side from his lover.

"Oh…w-well…" Kanji stammered nervously, evidently realizing he'd interrupted something. "I'm still working at the Roost if you want to drop by…if you change your minds," he finished loudly.

He quickly let himself out while Taki walked into the small kitchen. Once Kanji was gone, the former snatcher asked what Goh wanted for dinner.

"Anything you make will be fine, Honey," Goh goaded, sinking into the dip of the sofa.

Taki replied with a slam of the refrigerator door, the glass bottles inside clinking together. Both men stayed quiet as Goh listened to Taki's actions in the kitchen. The silence between the men grew louder as Taki rattled silverware, pots, and pans around. Finally he sighed, got up, and made his way toward the kitchen.

"What's going on? You've been acting weird since you got home…"

"Nothing's wrong, everything's fine," Taki replied, accentuating it with another refrigerator slam as he pulled out a plastic bag full of onions.

Goh inched towards Taki and pried the bag of onions from Taki's fingers, pulled out a knife and began chopping. "How much of this do you need?"

"Half…" Taki watched Goh chopping and smiled. However, the smiled turned to a frown as he started feeling guilty for how he'd been acting. Now the other man thought that it was his fault that Taki was mad… Perhaps it was the onions, but tears began stinging at Taki's eyes and he sighed. He'd never wanted Goh to be the one who felt guilty… Taki found himself aching for closeness, for forgiveness, as he crossed the kitchen wordlessly and crept up behind Goh. Taki hugged his partner tightly and scattered kisses affectionately up and down his neck.

Goh put down the knife and onion, and turned to face his lover, only to find a tear rolling down Taki's cheek. Goh cleaned his onion-juiced hand on his pants and wiped the tear off of Taki's face; he asked again, "What's going on?"

Taki merely grunted, "Onions."

The other nodded, skeptical, and pulled Taki in for another embrace. They stay entwined around each other until he felt Taki pull away and sniff, muttering something along the lines of, "Freaking onions…"

"Goh, can you finish chopping? ….Bathroom…" he finished noncommittally.

Goh watched Taki walk out of the kitchen as though every step pained him and he wondered again how he could get Taki to open up. However, Taki usually responded best when left alone, so instead of going and trying to talk to the stubborn blond, Goh finished chopping onions silently and headed back to the living room.

He headed over to the small bookcase by the window, pulled out his selection, and plopped back down onto the couch, leafing through the pages.

Taki, meanwhile, pondered the prospect of going back to snatching with a glum expression as he stared into the mirror. They'd refused immediately, but it was spur of the moment, and perhaps there was some way that things would work themselves out if they went back to it. Snatching was certainly his most interesting occupation to date, but he wasn't sure if he could handle going back to it. The aspect that had made it so perfect was that they were just partners before and sleeping with numerous partners was more or less insignificant. Taki would always take care of the women while Goh would handle the men; there had never been a conflict of interests. But now… Now they were committed to each other and no doubt Goh's jealousy would get in the way of things. Of course, his own jealousy was sure to create conflicts between them too. Was there any way that they could go back to snatching without all of the sex that the job carried as baggage?

It's impossible, he thought as he left the bathroom. He passed by Goh on the couch and noticed that he was intently reading something. Taki was mildly horrified after a closer look revealed that Goh was reading, evidently researching, about martinis. Perhaps he was already planning to work somewhere where women and men could ogle him! Taki pushed the thought from his mind and went back to the kitchen to finish cooking.

After dinner, Taki excused himself, mumbling, "I'm going to bed." Goh merely nodded and watched him go, still careful of saying the wrong thing and incurring Taki's wrath.

Later that night, after going through another cocktail volume, Goh got into bed and immediately pressed his warm body against Taki. He spooned his lover and intertwined his fingers with the blond's, hoping that even in his sleep, Taki would be able to feel Goh's love. The other, still fast asleep, tightened his grip on Goh's hand mumbling something about how he'd better not try that in public.

When Goh woke up the following morning he snuck out of bed, got dressed and left the apartment. He took the train to downtown Tokyo and got off at the stop nearest to Zebra. He had planned to talk to the owner of Zebra directly, but by the time he arrived at the bar, Madeleine had already left to run errands and would not return before Taki had to start his shift.

"You're the guy who helped out a couple of months ago!" one of the present workers exclaimed as he came out from the liquor walk-in.

Goh nodded, scratching his head. "Yeah, sorry, I don't remember your name…"

"I'm Naohito. You're…Goh, right?"

"Yeah, that's me. Nice to meet you… Listen, I have a question. Did something happen with Taki here yesterday? I talked to him after he finished his shift and he seemed kind of bummed out about something…"

"Hmm…" Naohito scratched his head as if that would make the memories come back more vividly. "He did get called into the boss's office for a talk. I have no idea what it was about, though."

"You don't think he got fired, do you?"

Naohito shrugged and replied, "It's possible…usually the boss will let someone finish the pay period if they get fired. And the pay period doesn't end for two weeks. So if he did get fired, he'll have time to find a new job"

Goh nodded. So that's what happened… Out loud he said, "Well, thanks. When you see Taki, don't tell him I came by, okay? I don't want him to think I'm worried at all."

"Sure…no problem."

Goh left with a somber look on his face. After a moment, it was as if a light bulb had turned on in his head. I know! I'll help find Taki a new bartending job! And so he set off down the street, ducking into every bar or club and asking for applications to be a bartender.

Applications in hand, Goh arrived home a couple of hours later to find Taki still in bed, with one arm stretched out, as though it was supposed to be around someone. Goh smiled proud of himself for having been able to help the current situation although he didn't quite understand some of the question he'd seen. He stared at one application to a place called Provence… "Please describe your cocktail creating philosophy." Goh just didn't understand the idea of having a philosophy for bartending. Good thing the applications weren't for him he thought as he tiptoed back into the bedroom. He undressed again and positioned himself under Taki's outstretched arm.

Taki's eyes fluttered open upon feeling Goh's movements, he yawned and smiled. "Morning…"

Goh smiled lazily and replied, "Go back to sleep, it's still before 2."

Taki, noticing his own clinginess, frowned slightly at his arm, as though it had moved of its own accord, and pulled his arm back onto his side of the bed. "You make it sound like 2 in the afternoon is early…" he replied drowsily.

Goh raised an eyebrow, "You mean it isn't," he asked ironically. "You don't have to work tonight until 7, why get up now? You'll need your strength."

Taki play-punched him in response, rolled over, and tried to fall asleep again. But his mind betrayed his good mood and recalled images of Madeleine's face and voice asking to pass on the message.

He still couldn't understand why he was acting so jealous; where was the reasoning behind it? But even more disturbing was his mind's constant reminding of the fact that he was starting to keep secrets from Goh. The man was homosexual; Taki had never seen any deviations from the pattern of young boys that Goh brought home. More like they followed him home; those poor lost puppies had needed him so badly… He was clearly devoted to his own gender, so there was no reason for Taki to worry about women coming on to Goh; but still, the lingering frustrations were there. And they were beginning to gnaw away at him…

Taki stopped mid-thought as he felt the bed give a little shift as Goh got out of bed. He stayed still and feigned sleep while Goh carefully got up and slipped out of the room, the door making a slight creaking noise as he closed it.

His thoughts returned to the stupid frustrations he'd been feeling lately and he sighed. Was this how relationships really functioned? Even lying about a small thing that potentially, could have no effect on the relationship, bothered him so much? That he, Taki the lone wolf, would get jealous and possessive even when women were after Goh? He groaned into his pillow in exasperation. His jealousy was unnecessary and unreasonable, he knew that, at least. His new tendencies towards being possessive? Well, those were new, but he had a feeling that this whole "love" thing had something to do with it. Who did he have to compare it to?

There had been Mizuki's obsessive possessiveness towards Taki, but did that count as normal? Mizuki was, after all, a person who killed for a living… and also had a sex change in hopes of being more appealing in Taki's eyes… Perhaps he…she…that was a bad example.

There was also Yukiya and Hatozaki…well…they hardly counted as normal, since they were an incestuous couple, right? Yukiya had also been fiercely possessive of Hatozaki, threatening to kill himself if his older brother married.

There had even been an incident with Goh before he and Taki had gotten together. Ah, the "bunny boy," Taki thought. The Bunny Boy had been extremely possessive; Taki remembered that incident well. It was hard to forget the part where he'd been drugged and very nearly raped as a result of Rei's possessiveness and jealousy. But Rei was also an insatiable little snot who was simultaneously Goh's girlfriend and mistress to the Kumagai-gumi boss. There was the jealousy talking again…

Taki rethought his dismissal of the two unorthodox couples. He and Goh hardly counted as a "normal" relationship either. They had been snatchers, had been serial polygamists, and were homosexual. They hardly counted as normal in Taki's book. But yet, they were… right…together. Without each other, Taki knew that they were incredibly dysfunctional human beings.

Alright, so being possessive worked…sort of? In Mizuki's and Taki's case, they were never an actual couple so he could see why that didn't work very well. In Rei's case, it wasn't really a relationship per se, seeing as how Goh had been sleeping with the snot so he could get information for the case. Well, Taki guessed that Yukiya and Hatozaki would have to serve as reference. Perhaps talking to Hatozaki would solve this whole issue of Taki's new acquaintances with petty, "green monster" feelings.

Now the problem was going to be actually voicing these still-foreign emotions aloud. Would he actually be able to speak to someone about this without even being able to admit them to Goh?

Taki climbed out of bed, opened the small safe he'd hidden in his closet, and pulled out a small business card with Hatozaki's phone number scribbled on it. He silently thanked Goh for saving it after Hatozaki had given it to them in case anything else Sandfish-related happened.

He steeled himself for an undoubtedly unpleasant phone call. "Hello?"

Taki cleared his throat, "Detective? This is Taki."

"Hi, Taki," Hatozaki replied in a surprised and slightly anguished tone, "Is something the matter?"

"Oh, no nothing's the matter…"

"I see," his voice relaxed a bit, "how can I help you?"

Taki grit his teeth and asked, "Would you like to have a cup of coffee with me?"

The second that the words tumbled out of Taki's mouth, he realized that there was a possibility that Hatozaki would interpret that as a come-on. But to his relief, the potential interpretation was not addressed. Instead, Hatozaki replied, "Sure… you sound angry, are you sure something isn't the matter?"

Taki sighed, "Something's bothering me, yes, but it's not a life or death situation… Do you want to meet at the Roost?"

"When, now?"

"If it's not too much trouble…"

Hatozaki replied that it was no problem and that he would meet Taki at HQ in half an hour before hanging up. Taki's fears were neither assuaged, nor had they increased at the prospect of confessing his emotions.

He just had to do it. Just blurt out that he was experiencing uncharacteristic jealousy, that he didn't know how to handle it, and that he wanted reassurances that he wasn't being crazy.

Thirty minutes later, Taki was sitting at a small inconspicuous table near the back of Tsunuga's café. Hatozaki walked in and acknowledged Tsunuga with a very slight nod. Immediately, Tsunuga made sure that Kanji was out for a while so as not to draw attention to the presence of the detective. Hatozaki sat down across from Taki at the small, two-person table. He smiled at the familiarity of the humble art hanging around him, looked at Taki and wondered aloud, "Are you going to go back to snatching?"

"Actually, this is about a personal matter…" He paused for a moment, wondering if he should wait and save the decision for later. He shrugged and continued, "…However, Goh and I have decided not to go back to snatching…"

The detective raised an eyebrow, "I see. Thank you for getting back to me… Now, about your problem?" He looked disappointed, but waited patiently for the former snatcher's reply.

"It's a little embarrassing…"

Hatozaki thought he understood, but he wanted Taki to say it for himself, "Well, think of it this way: even if this is really embarrassing, you rarely, if ever see me. And I certainly won't tell anyone, because that would connect me to you, and we both know that that can't happen, especially considering the fact that you've retired."

Taki smiled at the almost absurd tone Hatozaki was using to make his point. He sighed and said, "I know… It's about Goh…" He had been staring at his hands, but as he finished his sentence, he looked up.

"Ah…I had surmised as much," Hatozaki smiled understandingly. "What's so embarrassing?"

He sighed again. "I have…jealousy issues."

"Jealousy issues? Can you elaborate?"

"I am… jealous to the point of keeping secrets from him." Telling the detective all of this personal information was rather excruciating, but Hatozaki had not even scoffed at him. He decided to keep going and explained everything as quickly as he could before he could change his mind.

Finally the reaction that Taki had been expecting happened. A rumbling laughter burst out of Hatozaki as the younger man sighed for a third time. "Taki…" the detective began, suppressing more chuckles, "what you're feeling is normal! I'd be more worried if you weren't jealous at all!"

Taki kept his mouth shut and waited for Hatozaki to continue.

"Goh loves you and he would never cheat on you with anyone… He was even willing to take his own life to keep you with him," Hatozaki reasoned.

The blond nodded silently, absorbing the words, knowing that he'd been silly to be jealous.

"I think what you really need to worry about is being able to control this green monster you have. You have to ask yourself, 'do I really need to worry about this?' If the answer is 'no,' then let it go, remind yourself that Goh loves you."

It wasn't really anything that Taki hadn't thought of before, but somehow it was more gratifying to hear those sentiments echoed from someone else, rather than his own mind. He thanked Hatozaki for his help and apologized for wasting his time with something so trivial.

"Taki, this isn't something trivial… Your work has always required you to stay commitment free, but now you are faced with a commitment that is new and completely foreign to you. It's more than a little scary and I'm happy you were able to tell me." Hatozaki checked his watch and apologized, "Unfortunately, I'm due back at the office soon…"

Taki nodded vigorously and replied, "Oh, yes, of course." He stood up and once the detective was standing as well, he bowed slightly and thanked him once again.

"No worries…" Hatozaki trailed off; he tried again, "I know it is difficult to come back to snatching…considering the circumstances…but we really need you."

"I'm very sorry, but there's no way we'll go back to that," and with a deep nod, Taki excused himself, avoiding Tsunuga's curious gaze as he walked out of the café.

As Taki unlocked the apartment door and stepped inside, he noticed that there was a space where Goh's favorite boots usually sat, which meant that Goh was out.

"Hm," Taki thought aloud, "Maybe he's gone to become an productive member of society." He snorted to himself in response, "Yeah, right. More likely he's buying food."

He took his black sneakers off and placed them on the shoe rack before ambling over to the old couch that they'd brought over from the old place. He sank into his usual dip in the couch as he sat down and leaned over the coffee table as he saw a stack of papers almost an inch thick. Each one read some form of, "Bartender Application for Employment." Taki was mildly horrified once again at the thought of Goh becoming a bartender and his mouth dropped open in shock. Goh?! Becoming a bartender?! Taki leafed through the stack more slowly this time, looking at the name and address of every application. Even more horrifying than the applications themselves, was the fact that not a single one was for employment at Zebra. Why on Earth would Goh apply to work at every other bar in town, but not the one that his supposed love worked at?

Taki didn't move for a moment while he tried to calm himself down. There had to be a very logical explanation for the absence of a Zebra application. He had yet to find an acceptable explanation by the time Goh walked in the door 10 minutes later. By this time, Taki had worked himself into a hysterical frenzy, but instead of displaying it, he hardened his features and merely raised an eyebrow at Goh.

"So you saw the applications, I see," Goh started.

"Yeah…I never expected you to go out and get them on your own," Taki's was tone rather stinging.

"Well, I just thought it'd be a good idea," his tone was defensive.

"You didn't have to, you know…" he trailed off icily.

Goh finally took off his boots and closed the door behind him as he joined Taki on the sunken couch. He tried to put his arm around Taki in hopes of loosening his partner up.

"Don't touch me!" Taki pushed away Goh's arm and stalked off and into the bedroom, very nearly slamming the door behind him.

Goh knew better than to barge in and ask what the hell the other was talking about, so instead he went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Taki, on the other hand, was fuming. He almost wished he were a snatcher again so he could go out and fight. How could that son of a bitch be so calm about everything! And why had he thought it was a good idea to take applications from everywhere but Zebra! Granted, Taki had immediately jumped down Goh's throat and not even let him explain, but still. Looking back, even though he was still angry, he knew he'd been too rash.

Goh finished making dinner –meat again– and took a small bowl of rice and a plate of chicken skewers to the bedroom. He placed the small bowl on top of the plate in his left hand, and knocked lightly with his right, before turning the handle.

"Taki," he asked timidly as he crossed the threshold, plate in hand.

Taki was sitting on the edge of the bed his elbows resting on his knees and holding his head up to look at Goh. He sighed. This time, when Goh sat down, the blond maintained his cool. Goh offered up dinner as a peace offering and Taki, against his will, smiled.

"Do you want a beer," Goh asked, still rather timid.

He nodded silently. Goh kissed his temple lightly and left the room. To Taki's surprise, he found the gesture extremely touching and sincere. However, Goh still hadn't explained why he had those applications…But then, neither had Taki explained why he was angry… Once again they were caught in a communication predicament.

Goh came back with the last beer in the fridge, and as he sat down he popped the tab and took a gulp.

"Hey-!" Taki couldn't finish as Goh kissed him. Goh tangled his fingers in Taki's hair and deepened the kiss, the sip of beer spilling into his lover's mouth.

Goh gently forced Taki backwards onto the bed while he put the unfinished beer on the nightstand. Poor Taki, left to trust Goh's maneuvering, bumped his head on the headboard,

"Mmf!" he let out, mid kiss. The bump, though, knocked some rationality back into Taki, who had been swept away by the surprise attack and passion of Goh's kiss.

Unfortunately for Taki, Goh was not about to relinquish his position of control and grabbed a little more tightly on Taki's hair. He straddled Taki and skillfully stripped himself of his, as well as Taki's, clothes. But as he reached for the condom and lube, Taki flipped Goh on his back and lubed two of his fingers up.

Goh, who had, up until this point, been the dominant one in the bedroom, now marveled at the complete change of scenery. So this is what Taki sees. Before he could say anything about the angle or make any quips, Taki tentatively poked a slick finger into Goh's awaiting ass.

However, Goh didn't expect the odd sensation that followed. He invariably let out a "Woah!" and tightened around Taki's finger. Taki laughed a bit as Goh added, "So this is what it feels like?"

"Is that a serious question," he mocked Goh's tone. "If you relax, it'll start to feel better…" His words were familiar to Goh; Goh had said something along those lines when they had had their first time together.

As soon Goh finally relaxed, Taki was able to use his own experiences to make the awkward experience for Goh, a little less awkward. Taki made sure he used a lot of lube as he inserted his second and third fingers before finally deciding that Goh was ready.

Taki slipped on the condom with ease and applied lube to his erection, rubbing the excess lightly into Goh's stretched sphincter. As he pushed into his partner, he took advantage of the newfound closeness and leaned over to kiss the nape of Goh's neck. "Does it hurt," he uttered softly into his lover's ear.

Goh shook his head lightly, "Keep going," he begged.

Taki nodded and smirked as he began to pull out slowly and thrust forward faster.

Goh turned his head and caught the look on Taki's face. Seeing that smirk was almost more arousing to him than the actual sex. That is, until Taki hit Goh's sweet spot. Goh let out a cry, which immediately spurred Taki on until both men were grunting and moving in unison.

As the bed frame shook, both men reaching their climax, Goh found himself needing release sooner and grabbed at the lube and then at himself. Before he could even get the lube slathered on himself, Taki had already reasserted his control. It was Taki's responsibility to induce orgasm, not Goh's.

After Taki got a hold of Goh, orgasm's coming was swift and loud. Goh spurt into Taki's hand with a cry and the blond followed soon after.

They lay together for a few moments, relishing their rather adventurous sexcapade in a sheen-covered stupor. Goh looked down at Taki for a moment, wondering if he should press the subject that had led to their amazing sex.

He ran his fingers through Taki's blond hair and murmured "Taki… you know you can tell me when something's bothering you, right?"

Taki hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Why didn't you tell me about applying to be a bartender?"

"Well… I figured it was only natural that you'd want to be a bartender somewhere else even if it hadn't worked out at Zebra…"

Taki stared at Goh for a moment. "Things at Zebra are fine, actually."

"Then why did you get called into the office? Naohito told me about that."

"She wants you to work there," he blurted out finally.

Now it was the other man's turn to stare. "What?"

"Yeah. The customers have been asking when you're going to come back, so she wants to hire you." Taki cringed inwardly.

"Okay… so why didn't you want to tell me this earlie—" he stopped mid-sentence as he discovered the answer to his question on his own. "You're jealous!" he burst out, a huge grin spreading across his face.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes! Yes you are!" Goh exclaimed as he pulled a struggling Taki in for a closer embrace.

"…So… are you going to take the job?"

"As much fun as I think it would be seeing you holding in your anger when all the women are ogling me, I really don't like them at all. I'll leave the women to you, just don't check them out."

"I'll control myself," Taki smiled. As he lay there quietly, feeling Goh's breathing even out as he drifted to sleep, the burden he had felt from before lifted. Soon enough, he too fell fast asleep.