A birthday fic for isumi 'kivic. :)
Unbeta-ed, all mistakes are my own. Aro/Namiki. ~1350 words.
I do not own The Land of The Blindfolded.
future imperfect.
aro.
They might have drinked one too many that night.
Aro popped the cap of another beer bottle, uncaring where it landed. It made faint clang against the floor.
"Dammit. Pick that up. The mutt is in the phase to swallow anything smaller than shoes," Namiki said, voice unerringly steady, considering the five empties sitting beside his foot.
Aro hated that about him -Namiki's ability to be last man standing on the rare occasion they drink together. He grunted something inaudible, but bent down to pick the offending object nonetheless. The dog in question was rightfully on track, sniffing Aro's hand as he curled his fingers around the cap.
"Go away. Sleep or something," Namiki supplied to the dog, his foot nudging the back of the dog's head, strangely fond.
Aro raised his eyebrows. He put the cap on the coffee table and carefully refrained to make any comment. That expression he saw on Namiki's face was one he saw only once before. One the man made in front of Kanade, unaware of anyone else who might be watching. Namiki might be less sober than he let on.
"What do you call it again?"
"Heh. Maro. Should've named it little demon instead. 'cause that's what it is in reality," Namiki replied. His foot still on the dog, spanning the lenght of its small back.
"Hmmm," Aro said. He saw Namiki bathing the little mutt when he touched Namiki earlier. An accidental bump as he handed the plastic bag containing the beer bottles to Namiki.
Namiki shifted a little beside him, foot leaving the dog to join his other one on the couch. A fissure of heat seeped through clothes where they were pressed together at the thighs.
The couch was too small for two adults to sit comfortably, leaving far too less space between them. It was one of the grand total of five pieces of furnitures Namiki had in his spacious apartment.
There was noticeable lack of mess and personal knick-knack for a bachelor pad. Aro's mind flashed to his own room -littered with take away boxes and band posters.
"So," Namiki started. "You haven't told me why the visit. I'd surmise you come to tell me off Kanade, but you already know it won't work."
Aro shrugged. It was a whim. It's not like he made it a custom to show up uninvited to Namiki's doorstep bringing two packs of beers. Although, it's not the first time either. "Need someone to drink with. It's a sad thing being drunk alone," Aro replied truthfully. And he absolutely refused to stand around unhibited in a bar surrounded by strangers.
Between that and Namiki. Well. No choice at all. The man-despite his infuriating personality-was something akin to friend to him. Earned, somewhat, after all this time.
"Problem in paradise?" Namiki tutted, amusement curled around his words.
Aro took a swig of beer and didn't answer.
"Ha!" Namiki said winningly. "Your loss is my gain. I'd comfort Kanade come morning, tell her to forget about sad bastards like you."
Aro turned his head and glared at Namiki. The fucker was grinning -wicked upturn of mouth, showing just a bit of overbite he'd never noticed before.
"What do you see?" Aro asked bitingly.
Namiki put down the empty beer in his hand to the floor, then stood up. The loss of body heat beside him was somewhat jarring. "Want more?" Namiki questioned, indicating the nearly empty bottle in Aro's hand.
Aro drinked from the bottle without breaking eye contact with Namiki. His mouth closing around the head. It felt numb. In fact, half his face felt numb and tingly. He was nearly past the point of tipsy, crossing into the phase of drunk. But, damn. He could read a challenge when he saw one.
Aro made a show of putting his empty down, joining the others on the floor. "Sure," he replied.
The grin was back on Namiki's face. He turned to walk to the kitchen, the mutt following his steps.
masahiro.
Masahiro's absense was a short one. His trip to the fridge took only thirty seconds. But halfway back, he hesitated. He stood unsure, observing the man currently invading his couch.
Aro had found the TV remote. He was watching something animated on mute -a program with flashes of boobs and lifted skirts, not uncommon this late in the evening. The TV light spilled colors on Aro's face. Calm again now, lacking the minor outburst that painted all over Aro's visage earlier.
What do you see?
Well... He'd seen something indeed.
"What took you so long?" Aro asked when Masahiro finally handed the beer to him.
Instead of answering, Masahiro kicked one of Aro's leg that had strayed to his part of the couch in his absence. "Leg down," he said.
Aro grunted but obeyed. He put his leg down and corrected his position, back to something Masahiro left him in. Masahiro sat and divested his own beer of its cap without preamble.
He drank a long pull. It took him more than this lot to get him drunk. Years of practice in his adolescence ensured that.
"Careful," Aro observed.
Masahiro licked his lips when he lowered the bottle again. Aro was watching him closely. His eyes lit with strange colors of whatever was shown on the TV.
What he sawreminded him that it's been so long since the last time he got laid. Masahiro was strictly professional on the occasion his manager showed up now. But it wasn't always like that.
Everything that was him now was not always like that. His life, however sappy it sounded, could be divided in two parts, before Kanade and afterKanade.
And also, it reinforced the fact that lust was very different from love. He lusted for men. He'd known that since he was thirteen. Simply one more reason for his mother to hate him.
"You asked me what did I see," Masahiro began. Tongue still tasting his lips for traces of the beer and peeling skin. He broke eye contact with Aro, fingers playing with the seam of the beer's label.
"Did you," Aro said. "See something?"
aro.
Namiki was distracted. His thumb flicked the condensation off the neck of the bottle he was holding. His eyes trained to the TV, though somewhat unseeing.
"I think you should leave," Namiki told him.
"What?" Aro let out, surprised.
"You asked me what did I see and I think you should leave," Namiki reiterated, slowing down his words as if he was speaking to a mentally challenged child.
Aro ignored the tone. Namiki was trying to get a raise out of him. And now he must know why. "Why? What did you see?" he pressed.
"Something you might regret."
Aro snorted. Damn. This was getting on his nerve quick. "I didn't know suspense would be part of the agenda when I called on you today. I wouldn't have bothered if I did."
"That might be wiser," Namiki said.
He moved in -his free hand slithering, quicksilver fast up the side of Aro's neck. Namiki used his weight to press Aro to the couch, climbing on the man's lap. His mouth was quick to follow, settling against Aro's and licking in.
It lit something fierce in Aro. But Namiki leaned back before Aro could do something. Either shoving the man or pulling him in.
"Change your mind yet?" Namiki grinned.