Give and Take
Ukoku poked his head through the doorway, his hair falling in his eyes.
"Are you coming?"
Koumyou remained where he sat, legs crossed and hands cradling the open book as he would a child. "Is it time already?"
Koumyou could hear Ukoku's rolling his eyes, in just the way he spoke. "They've called for you at least five times."
"Oh! I must have been very absorbed in my reading. I am on my way."
He smoothed the pages of the book with his palms, and his fingers, and then he closed it and set it on the mat before him. He unfolded himself, standing up carefully, and was not surprised when Ukoku was still standing in the doorway, watching him with a crooked smile on his young face. It made him look younger than he was, and he was already very young.
"You must field all of their questions tonight," Koumyou said, touching the ache in his back -- ah, the benefits of age! -- and moving to the doorway, to stand in front of the other man. "I think I will only bore them."
Ukoku's smile transformed his face, when one was close enough to see. It suited his mouth.
"You can't bore them," he said, and the way he said it made it seem like it was truth.
Koumyou laughed, softly, and touched Ukoku's shoulder. "Our host's daughter would surely rather listen to a handsome young man than a stodgy old one."
Ukoku ducked his head at the same time that he opened his mouth to protest, but he closed his mouth and smiled again. Koumyou drew his hand from the man's shoulder, and slid both of his hands into his sleeves. He stepped past Ukoku, and Ukoku followed him.
Before they stepped into the dining hall, Ukoku spoke. If he knew what his smile did to his face, he would surely not smile as much.
"Then we will both speak. I will not bore them, and you will not bore me."
Koumyou turned to him, and took in his smile, and nodded. "Yes, I suppose that will work as well."
