Warnings – Yaoi and language
Disclaimer – Minekura Kazuya owns all that is Wild Adapter.
Notes – just a short fic, an attempt at a writing challenge. I hope it can be enjoyed and feedback is always welcome. Thank you. ^_^
Solace
Tokitoh flipped his pillow over and dropped his head down, but then grimaced. This side was still hot and wet from when he had flipped it over five minutes earlier. He cursed and tossed the pillow off the bed and laid his head down where it had been. It wasn't cool either though, nothing was in their apartment.
They had been slowly baking all afternoon. He had sat in front of the balcony door playing video games, but the controller soon became slick with sweat, and he'd finally tossed it aside after his character died one too many times. The door to the balcony was wide open, but only hot, humid air seemed to drag into the room, washing over them until their clothes were stuck fast to their bodies and their energy was gone. Kubota sat on the couch, fanning himself with the newspaper. Even with the air that he was making, the smoke from his cigarette still seemed to just hang frozen in front of him, as if trapped in the room's haze.
Tokitoh scowled at him from the floor. "Can you cut it out already? You're making it hotter by smoking those."
Kubota looked down at him, his head cocked to the side. "I seriously don't think this," he held up the cigarette, "is the problem here." He turned his newspaper fan towards Tokitoh. "Any better?"
He knew Kubota was asking sincerely, but the slight heated wind that blew across his face from the fan seemed like a cruel joke disguised as relief. Without responding, he stood up and headed towards the hall.
"Where are you going?"
"It's too hot to be awake!" was all he yelled back before he slammed shut the door to the bedroom.
What he soon realized though was that it was also too hot to sleep, so he just lay in the now pillow-less bed, staring off into space. He turned over and raised his hand to the window. He waved towards himself as if beckoning the air to enter, but all that came in was more heat. Puffing out his cheeks, he laid his head back down. It was useless. They were all going to burn up and die before dinner, which really pissed him off since Kubota had promised him omelets the day earlier, after he had complained about their left-overed left overs for the fifth meal in a row. "I'll make it just the way you like it," the taller boy said soothingly, dropping another scoop of brown curry onto his plate. "No onions and lots of ketchup."
He sighed, letting his own hot breath out. Thoughts of Kubota suddenly made him miss the smell of tobacco, even though the bed he was lying in was soaked in it. But it was missing that extra ingredient of Kubota's hand holding the cigarette and his mouth slowly letting out the smoke…
Damn, what was he doing? It was too hot to think like this. He cursed again and slung his arm over his face, blocking out the view of the ceiling. He felt the sweat from his arm on his eyelids, but instead of stopping up his thoughts, they suddenly intensified in the dark he created.
…Then there's the way Kubota's lips twitched up when he smiled, but he'd never lose hold of the cigarette, and then when he would take it out was when he'd lean down to press his tobacco-taste on to his own lips…
"Fucking A…" he muttered and squirmed in his clothes. Why was he doing this to himself? It was too hot, it was too much, he couldn't think...
His own breath seemed to twist in his chest, hot and wet. He couldn't breath.
"I'm gonna blow up and it's all your fault," he whispered to the dark.
"I'm sorry to hear that," the dark answered back. "That's going to be such a mess. And us without a vacuum."
Tokitoh moved his arm and looked up to see Kubota gazing down at him.
"…How long have you been there?"
"I don't know. Five minutes, maybe?" Kubota sat down on the bed next to him. "You're really fun to watch when you don't think anyone's looking."
"Shut up," was all he could think to say back, quickly followed by, "You suck."
Kubota returned with his usual smile and nudged his leg. "Move over. I want to lie down and swear at the ceiling too."
"No way!" Tokitoh sat up and pushed his hand away. "It's hot enough with just me. With you here too, we'd die!"
Kubota gave him a funny look then, one he didn't understand. There was a long pause, and he almost regretted what he had said. He broke the quiet. "What is it?"
Kubota only shook his head and moved further onto the bed. Tokitoh backed up until his body was against the wall. He could feel the heat from the window on his back.
"Hey, what- what are you doing?" he asked, throwing his arms up to block the other boy's nearing hands. Kubota outmaneuvered his defense and laced his arms around him, bringing them closer together. He lay down then, and brought the struggling Tokitoh down with him. Tokitoh found his face lying in the crook of Kubota's neck. Without even moving, his lips had fallen onto the other's skin. He felt his face heat up and he looked down, embarrassed. Kubota's mouth met his forehead, and he felt its soft warmth trail slowly down. He gulped as it moved from his temples to the line of his jaw.
As Kubota's hand took his chin and forced it up, Tokitoh again felt his breath inside twist and turn.
He squeezed his eyes shut and looked away. "…I'm sorry." He swallowed, and he felt the twisted air inside harden. He wished he could hide from the hardness that seemed to be burning his insides. He reached out, but realized too late that he had already kicked off the sheets. With his hands finding nothing to hide himself in, he felt suddenly lost, and the only words he could find to say were "it's too hot".
"I know it is." Kubota answered quietly. He brought his hand up and gently wiped Tokitoh's forehead. "That's why."
He looked up at him, confused. "What's why?"
Kubota smiled and lowered his face until their noses were touching. "Because I wouldn't mind dying like this. That's why."
Tokitoh's eyes widened. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He felt the heat in his face move up another notch. He really did feel like he was about to explode. Finally, a small "you suck" slipped out, but he had already buried his face back into Kubota's neck when he had said it. His skin tasted like his cigarettes, and Tokitoh breathed in deeply, filling himself up with that smell, as if he was filling himself up with Kubota. This…this is what he had missed.
"I know," was all he heard before he felt the outside heat tighten around him and slowly overtake his twisted insides, warming and loosening them up until all they could do was burst out. He felt both lost and found in that heat, and in the end all he could do was fall forward and embrace it back.
A soft pounding in his ear brought him up out of the fall. He cracked open his eyes to see long shadows across the room. It was no cooler than before, but instead of feeling suffocated, now he could breathe easy and free. He turned his head and pressed his cheek onto Kubota's chest, the source of the pounding. He felt a soft pressure around him as the other boy tightened his embrace. Their skin was still hot and sweaty and sticky, but Tokitoh didn't complain. He just hugged the heat back.
"You know," his Kubota-pillow said. "…I think I can die twice today."
He blinked wide-awake, but it was already too late. The warmth was once again rising between them. And no matter how many times he flipped himself over, there was no cool part of the bed to find solace in so instead, he kissed his pillow and surrendered to the heat.
^^ owari