Scene with Soapsuds
A minific of sorts by Tenshi

Disclaimer: Gravitation is owned by the talented Maki Murakami.
Author's Notes: Sap, Sap, Lovey Dovey Sap. So much Sap I think Yuki is OOC, but oh well.


*****

Yuki Eiri found himself walking up the stairs to his apartment a little more light-footed than normal. He had been on a three day trip to northern Japan, specifically Sapporo, at the request of his publisher for some book signings. He loathed doing it, but the publisher agreed to give him a hefty bonus and extend the deadline of his next book by two and a half weeks. Those weren't the only perks though. Yuki thought of it as slight payback to the singer that lived him with. After all, Shindou Shuuichi was constantly going on tours and concert trips and that would always leave Yuki at home. The first few times he had looked forward to it. Peace and quiet, he thought he would be free to work on his writing. In the end he learned that he would just miss the short puff of energy and all his idiosyncrasies. Shuuichi had never understood what it felt like though, since he was always the one leaving on some "great adventure". Yes, Yuki thought, we'll see how well he handled it. Just see if he never calls while on trips again.

He put the key in the lock and opened the door. Lately Shuuichi had been locking the door while home to keep some very pesky reporters out. Publicity didn't seem to bug the singer, but after they snuck in and took some pictures of him in the nude, that was it.

All the lights in the house were on, a clear signal that Shuuichi was home. Yuki quietly went into each room, wondering which one held his prize, and turned off various lights. While heading down the hallway from the living room, he noticed the thermostat was turned all the way up again. Normally he would think about how to admonish Shuuichi for being so wasteful (heating is expensive in Japan!) and how Shuuichi could do better (wear a sweater for once instead of those spandex t-shirts).... but he found himself quite thankful for the heat after those last three freezing days up north and thankful for another one of Shuuichi's odd habits. He decided to turn the thermostat down just a bit and wondered if that would be enough to bring his lover out of hiding.

Down the hall and through a door and Yuki found himself in his study. His computer was on, which meant Shuuichi had been using it. His eyes narrowed and his mouth turned into a slight frown. Shuuichi had his own computer and the only thing on Yuki's was a word processor. It didn't even have a basic modem to connect to the Internet. Yuki gently put a finger on the touch pad and watched the screen come to life. The word processor was running and Shuuichi had been typing.

"Yuki...Yuki...Yuki...I miss you...When are you coming back?...Why won't you call?...Do you miss me?...I wish your computer smelled like you...Your office doesn't even smell like you even though you are here all the time....Did you know I opened a can of beer and left it in the kitchen just to see if the scent would fill the room?...Yuki...."

Yuki sat in his chair pondering. Had he been too harsh? Maybe he should have called. Then he shook his head. This was supposed to teach Shuuichi a lesson right? Then why did he feel all blah again? Yuki shivered slightly. When did I become so needy? He sighed and then got back up to continue his search. No sense thinking about what had been done and all...

There was only one place left unchecked: the bedroom. He peeked inside and didn't see anybody. There was a faint scent of cotton candy though. It wouldn't surprise me, Yuki thought, if Shuuichi started to buy scented, edible hair dye. The bed was made neatly. So neat in fact... Yuki double-checked it. It was still as he had left it three days ago. Shuuichi hadn't slept in it? The sound of water splashing interrupted his thoughts and he entered the bathroom a little faster than he wanted. His foot caught a patch of water on the floor and down he went. He slid a bit too and his head whacked hard against the edge of the bathtub.

"Damn it, Shuuichi." Yuki rubbed his head and looked up.

His short strawberry cotton candy lover was looking down at him, his hair and body covered in tiny soapsuds. "YUKI!!!! OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH YUKI!!! YOU'RE HOME!!!" came a screaming reply and Shuuichi jumped out of the tub onto his lover. He grasped on tightly and started cuddling his head into Yuki's chest, right above his heart. "OH OH OH, that beautiful sound. Yuki!!!!!!!" Shuuichi looked up at Yuki, giant tears streaming from giant eyes. "I MISSED YOU!!!"

A perfectly normal response would have been "I missed you too" or "I'm sorry". Instead, Yuki Eiri pushed the sopping wet rock star off of him and wiped the soapsuds off his shirt. "Yeah, yeah."

Shuuichi was used to this kind of treatment though. In a small way, he had almost missed Yuki's roughness. Shuuichi hugged Yuki really quick again and then crawled back into the warm water of his bath. "Ne ne Yuki, come join me!"

"I'll pass."

"Did you miss me?"

Silence.

"I missed you."

More silence... and then "Yeah, I noticed what you wrote on my computer."

"Oh... about that... sorry... I just..."

"yeah, yeah, I know." but it was said with a slight edge of forgiveness instead of the normal harshness that seemed ever present in his voice. Yuki tried to sit up and felt his back ache after the rough fall. Slowly, he got up enough to sit at the edge of the tub where Shuuichi was watching silently with much concern.

"I'm fine."

"Okay." came the timid reply. Then the quietness was shaken away. "Yuki! Why didn't you call! You should have called! Or written! You know I have email. I missed you so much!" Everything was said in a way that it was the most important idea or sentence ever spoken.

"Does this conversation sound familiar to you at all? Why didn't you call? I was busy. You could have found time. I'm sorry. Hmmmm?"

Shuuichi's eyes clouded over with lack of understanding and then became clear again. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh..... soooooo......"

"Did you learn your lesson?"

"Yeah, I'm really sorry Yuki! I promise next time I leave I'll make sure to call."

"Good."

"Does it really mean that much to you?"

Silence. Instead of answering, Yuki picked up the bottle of "Cotton Candy Fun Bear Bath Bubbles" and showed it to Shuuichi. "What happened to the strawberry you normally use?"

"The store was out." He gave a tiny pout. "But isn't that bear-shaped bottle cute? And cotton candy is almost as good as strawberry."

"Yeah, I suppose it's alright..." and then Yuki smiled wide and stuck his hand into the water of the tub.

"YUKI!" Shuuichi blushed a little in anticipation... but instead looked kind of embarrassed when Yuki pulled up a large pink bunny that was carefully wrapped in a plastic bag. The look on Yuki's face demanded an explanation.

"I was lonely." pout pout pout. "So Sakuma-san said I could borrow Kumagorou! And I thought, hey! I could take a bath with Kumagorou, so I asked Sakuma-san how, and he said just to wrap him in a plastic bag and that would keep him dry!" Shuuichi was all smiles. Yuki frowned at the pink bunny.

"So I'm so easily replaced huh?" Inside he felt wonderful. It was so much fun to bait Shuuichi. He could never tell him, but that was okay. Shuuichi probably liked playing this game just as much as he did.

"NO NO! No way Yuki! Kumagorou may be cuddly, but he's not as cuddly as you. And Kumagorou can watch TV, but he doesn't make any of the funny commentary like you do. And... well... there are just other things that bunnies can't do..." Shuuichi blushed.

"That's funny. I thought bunnies could do that just fine."

Shuuichi blushed more. "YUKI!"

Yuki stuck his hands into the water again, this time gently running a finger down one of Shuuichi's thighs, down his leg, onto his toe, and then pulling the stopper out of the tub.
"Come on."

Two simple words and everything was so amazingly.... understood. Shuuichi knew what Yuki wanted. Yuki knew what Shuuichi expected. And they both knew... Yuki Eiri was home.

*****
The End

More notes: okies, just a quick little fic. ^_^;; not much plot, not much meaning, but a bunch of happy sap I had to get out of my system. heehee Thanks for reading!