Prize

Disclaimer: Don't own _

Joh: Posted this on lj. Finally got around to posting it here C:

Warnings: one-shot, AU, smooches, yaoi

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Neku really should consider a new summer job.

He yawned loudly and shoved his hands deep into his pockets, slouching down as he cast a bored look around the crowded festival grounds. Lights from the game booths and various rides lit up the park, bright enough that the stars overhead were invisible.

He wished he had his headphones to drown out the overbearing amount of noise from the crowds, but his boss had made it clear that headphones weren't allowed at work. Unfortunate. Neku scowled at one of the kids hovering by his booth, eyeing the prizes lined up on the shelves curiously. "How many tickets…?" she started to ask, but Neku cut her off impatiently.

"It says on the sign." He snapped, pointing at the painted poster hanging over the narrow counter. The girl jumped at his curt response, glanced down at the sign, then looked back up to glare at him before trotting off, bag of candy swinging at her side.

Neku watched her disappear into the crowd, frown fading as he crossed his arms over his chest. Perhaps that had been a bit harsh. Neku sighed heavily and rubbed the heel of his palm against his eyes. Ugh, this was exactly why he sucked at this sort of job. Too much social interaction required.

"That wasn't very nice of you."

Neku turned, eyebrows arching. A thin boy around his age was leaning against the counter of his booth, head cocked to the side and violet eyes narrowed just slightly.

"What do you want?" Neku demanded, lips thinning. Something about this kid irked him…

The boy brushed back his pale, silver hair and tapped a finger against the wooden counter. "I'd like to play. Obviously." He added with a small smirk.

Neku stared at him, face flushing for some unknown reason before he let his arms fall loosely to his sides. "What… oh! Do you have tickets?"

"Right here." The boy slapped four tickets down and drew back to pocket his hands in his jeans. "So tell me, how do you play this game?"

Neku frowned, his left eye twitching. "Why would you want to play a game you don't even know how to play?" he grumbled, taking the tickets and slipping them into a small bucket kept under the counter.

"The prizes look nice." The boy shrugged then leaned forward over the counter; smirk growing when Neku stumbled back a step. "What are the rules?"

Neku blinked then scowled and turned to hand the boy one of the plastic guns lying in a small pile by the counter. "Just shoot one of the prizes and if you can get it to fall over you win it," he said flatly. "You get three shots."

The boy took the gun and turned it over in his hands, inspecting the brightly colored, red plastic. "Sounds simple enough." He lifted the gun and grinned. "So whatever I hit is my prize, correct?"

"Yeah. Whatever."

The boy pursed his lips as he drew his gaze across the collection of stuffed animals lining the shelves. "Anything?"

Neku sighed, wondering if the boy was trying to piss him off. "You know, it's a pretty simple game. It shouldn't take a lot of thinking."

The boy giggled, lifting a pale hand to cover his lips. "Just making sure." He smiled then aimed the gun carefully, squinting his eyes.

Neku watched him for a minute before he got bored and leaned back against the counter, idly wondering which toy the boy would aim for. Probably the blue one, most people went for the blue one. Then again, most of his customers were girls so…

A sharp prick against his arm jerked him out of his thoughts. Neku flinched and slapped a hand over the spot where he had been stung. "Ow," he hissed and looked around, wondering what on Earth had stung him.

Another, sharper, prick hit his side, making him stumble back with a curse. "What the hell?!" He looked up at the boy right when whatever had hit him before whacked him between the eyes.

With a yelp, he fell down, knocking over a few boxes of stuffed animals in the process. A little dazed, he looked up again, rubbing at the sore spot on his face. The boy was leaning over the counter, the toy gun swinging in his hands as he looked down at Neku, amused.

Slowly, Neku looked back down and noticed three blunt darts that the guns were loaded with scattered around him. Scowling, he looked up to meet the pale-haired boy's gaze. "The hell? Can you not aim?" he growled.

The boy simply smiled and leaped over the counter in one, fluid movement. "I have perfect aim, actually." He dropped the gun and kneeled down in front of Neku, head tilting to one side.

Neku opened his mouth to snarl something at him, but before he could get a word in the boy leaned close and pressed his lips firmly against his, effectively silencing and ending all thoughts. Neku's hands automatically rose to shove the boy away, but froze when a warm tongue pressed past his lips to rub teasingly against his own. Heat flooded Neku's face as his fingers hovered over the boy's shoulders, not quite touching him.

This wasn't real. This couldn't be real. Things like this didn't happen. It…

Then suddenly, it was over. The boy pulled back slightly, his breath fanning across Neku's moist lips. "Joshua," the boy murmured, voice teasing as their lips brushed.

Neku blinked. "What…?"

"My name." He giggled and leaned back, eyes narrowing. "And you…" He tapped a finger playfully against Neku's chest.

"You're my prize."