AoYokai, I am your Secret Santa! Hope you enjoy this fic!
If there was anything that defined a bad day for Nezumi, it was too many hours at the theater with cranky coworkers, and an equally cranky boss that gave him smaller pay than usual for being the pain in the ass he'd already become well aware that he was. That meant less money for food. Normally he'd brush it off with a scoff and not make a big deal out of it, since it had still been more than enough money to cover himself just a month or two ago. But now there was an addition to his life he had to take care of.
With a grumpy expression by evening time, Nezumi left his work and went to the market, just barely dodging a sprinting child stealing some food from somewhere and a man's bullet. It was nothing terribly unusual, though it put Nezumi in an even worse mood than before somehow.
With an arm busy carrying a paper bag of whatever was cheap he could find, Nezumi headed home to the basement room that he and Shion were sharing. He almost thought about just sitting out in the wasteland for a while instead and enjoy some peaceful solitude for once in this whole day, but decided against it. He knew that the other boy was immediately going to start asking those annoying questions that often gave Nezumi a headache day by day, but he would probably worry Shion if he stayed out here much longer, and the other would go out in some foolish and dangerous search to find him with only a single lantern to guide his way in the snow.
Not that the last part mattered much to Nezumi. Of course not.
After some time, Nezumi reached the room and opened the door. Shion wasn't anywhere in sight, and he blinked, trying to ignore the panic that crept and tingled his skin and the sudden, rapid pumping of his heart. But all of his fears were quelled when Shion's voice came from behind the bookshelves.
"Oh, welcome home, Nezumi." The white-haired boy peeked out from a shelf and smiled at him in greeting.
Nezumi only stared at him for a second, then closed his eyes and gave a tiny nod of his head to acknowledge the welcome and that Shion really hadn't run off, but that was it. He didn't say a word as he stripped off his leather jacket and hung it over the chair beside the piano in the corner. He moved to the bed and and settled his weight heavily onto it, always making sure to face the wall, and not Shion.
Shion watched his companion the whole time, then released a small, crestfallen sigh— just as he always did when he realized Nezumi was in a bad mood again. Nezumi tried not to let that soft sound affect his own emotions in any way or sway him from ignoring Shion as best as he could.
"…How was work?" Shion asked after a moment of silence, hoping he could get Nezumi to speak at all for the rest of the evening.
"Shitty," Nezumi replied bitterly. "Now leave me alone."
Shion ducked his head with a bit of a pained face at the abrupt words, but he reminded himself that Nezumi was like this because of work, not him. At least, that's what he was hoping. Pursing his lips, he walked over with an idea in mind to the edge of the bed where Nezumi's form lie, and leaned over him. "Say… how about we have a bet?"
Nezumi scoffed and glared over his shoulder at him. "A bet? You're hilarious. Absolutely not." He looked away again and folded his arms, closing his eyes as though he were going to sleep.
"I'm serious," Shion told him firmly. "Let's have a bet, to see if I can put you in a genuinely good mood by the end of the evening. If I can't, then you can go back to being as moody as you want." He explained.
Nezumi laughed humorlessly. "What on earth do you think is actually going to put me in a 'genuinely good mood,' Shion? Tricks? Dressing up like a clown?"
"I have some ideas," Shion reassured with a light shrug. "Not any of those things, though. We don't have a clown suit in here."
Nezumi rolled his eyes at how the sarcasm clearly went right through one of Shion's ears and out the other. After a moment, he suddenly sat up on the bed and peered at him closely. "Alright, your majesty. I'll play your game. And in the very, very slim chance that you succeed, what do you get?"
Shion shook his head and smiled at him. "Your smile or a laugh will be reward enough for me." He murmured. Nezumi raised his eyebrows in mild surprise at the answer, but he shook his head and gave Shion a dull look as he waited for whatever the other boy had in mind. He should be used to ridiculous answers like that by now. Shion was definitely the weirdest kid he'd ever met.
The bet started and Shion began attempting some ways to get Nezumi in a better mood. One of them involved the rats, another involved their soup pot. Neither ideas worked on Nezumi, though, and he was still left with that bored and grumpy expression. He lifted an eyebrow at Shion after a minute. "Are we done? Because I think I'm gonna lie back down now." He mumbled, already starting to move back in his former position. "Nice try. But I knew it'd be hopeless."
Shion stared at him, quite deflated. He moved his gaze to the floor, then suddenly perked up with another idea. "Wait," he said sternly, taking a few quick steps towards the bookshelves.
"Shion, for god's sake—"
"Just hang on! I got it." He replied determinedly, taking out one of the Shakespeare classics. He beamed with excitement as he practically strode over to the bed again and opened the book to a certain part. Nezumi watched this all with extreme skepticism.
"What are you—"
"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun," Shion cut him off, already beginning his monologue. He looked up at Nezumi while he spoke, trying his absolute best to pour passion into his words, as he'd seen Nezumi do so many times before. "Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon who is already sick and pale with grief…" he continued on, furrowing his brows and beating a fist down upon his chest, as though stung.
Nezumi couldn't move. He was stunned by this change in tactic, and could only stare at Shion while he went on with his romantic soliloquy. Nezumi had known automatically what it was just by the first two words alone: Romeo, pouring his heart out to his Juliet. He wasn't surprised somehow that Shion had chosen such a sappy scene.
"…The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars, as daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven would through the airy region stream so bright that birds would sing and think it were not night. See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek." Shion finished. His soft, ruby eyes never left Nezumi's stormy-grey ones as he closed the book and waited expectantly for a reaction. Nezumi was no longer scowling, at least, more- he seemed a little shocked…
In the silence that fell, it was suddenly broken by the sound of Nezumi's hard laughter. Nezumi fell back onto the bed, holding his stomach with one hand and pressing his other palm against his forehead. His eyes were shut tight, and his cheeks were turning a light, rosy shade of red from how much he laughed. Shion almost contemplated dumping the bucket of water over him again, but decided to wait it out until Nezumi calmed down from his hysterical fit.
When Nezumi did finally calm down, he was left practically wheezing, and his face hurt from smiling so wide. Shion simply stood there patiently, rather surprised, himself. He wasn't sure what reaction he was expecting from Nezumi, but it wasn't exactly this.
"That was classic," Nezumi finally said, sitting up and wiping a tear from the rim of his eye. "You need to be a comedian, Shion, seriously…"
"A comedian?" The boy echoed, giving him a puzzled look.
"Y-yeah—" Nezumi only laughed a bit more, but reduced it as best as he could. "That acting… was awful. But it was so damn funny, I couldn't hold this in. Alright, Shion, fine. You win. You got what you wanted, I feel pretty good right now."
Shion completely brushed off the insult and only grinned when Nezumi admitted his success. Completely satisfied, he walked back over to the bookshelf and put the book back where he'd found it.
Nezumi smirked lightly over in his direction. "Are you quite sure that you won't want any official winnings for that?"
Shion turned back over to look at him. "Yeah, I'm sure." He answered with a content smile.
"Don't be such an idiot," Nezumi muttered, getting up from the bed and heading in Shion's direction. Without any warning, he took the boy's chin between his thumb and index finger and tilted his face up, then leaned down and pressed a kiss to Shion's lips. It was a soft kiss, a small, innocent brush of lips. Shion could feel Nezumi smiling in the middle of it. When the kiss ended after a few seconds, the white-haired boy blinked up at him in a daze.
"What kind of kiss was that?" He asked quietly.
"A 'thank you' kiss, your majesty." Nezumi answered with a smug look, absently brushing his thumb over Shion's snake scar that curved over his cheek for a moment, and then he moved away.
Shion smiled gently, following Nezumi's graceful movements. "So… shall we make dinner?" He asked.
Nezumi looked back at him, looking much more happy and content than Shion could remember ever seeing him. "Yes, we shall."