Summary - Gareki owes Yogi a favor and the blonde chooses to use the chance to spend time alone with him. However, Gareki insists it's not a date! Yogi/Gareki, Gareki/Yogi Lemon warning for later!
Author's note- Hello everyone! Long time to no see! I'm shaking off the dust on my writing skills and jumping back into the fray with a short 2-5 or so multi-chapter of Yogi/Gareki from Karneval!
To those who have followed me for my Slayers fic 'Raspberry Cravings', I AM going to finish it! In fact, writing what little I have on this Karneval fic has made me really think about where I was at with RC and where I need to take that story next. I think I should be able to get back to that one once I'm done with this little story here. Once I get going on writing again, there's a good chance I'll finish 'Red Stringed Web of Deceit' and 'Call Me Yusuke' too. I really would like to finish those someday... Anyway, this story here is definitely helping me shake the rust off of my writing skills. But I'm finding that I'm having some trouble with a couple of story things. Which I'll ask your help for at the bottom A/N so be sure to read that and help me choose where to take this little story next!
Gareki stood silently outside the closed door, looking down at the goggles in his hand. He ran his finger along the frayed edge of the broken strap and sighed before reaching up and turning the handle.
Like many of the second ship's common rooms, this one had a wide variety of tables, chairs and bookshelves, but this room seemed to be where most of the sewing equipment was kept. It was also where Yogi currently sat at a table, working diligently at sewing a second Nyanperona costume. Though Gareki knew from the sheep that the blond would be here and what he was working on, he silently prayed that Yogi was only making the costume as a backup for himself and not one that was sized to fit the raven haired teen.
The cat obsessed man looked up from stitching the eyes onto the mascot's face when he noticed the others presence in the room and smiled brightly. "Ah! Gareki-kun! Did you come to help me? Would you like to try on the new costume head?"
Gareki shuddered and looked ill for a moment before his face turned angry, "There's no way you'd get me to wear another stupid cat costume again."
Yogi pouted his lip a little in disappointment but quickly focused on how it seemed like Gareki was there for a reason. "Well then, what can I do for you?" He once again smiled cheerfully.
The other moved closer and held up the goggles that were usually on top of his head in his hand. The strap had snapped in half and the edges of the material were frayed. "Can you fix these?"
Blonde eyebrows shot up into blonder hair as Yogi placed the work in his hands on the table and moved closer to inspect the damaged eye-wear. "You want help from me?"
Gareki looked away briefly in annoyance. "Well I can't really sew and you're the only one I know who does."
Yogi looked genuinely confused, "But Tsukumo-chan sews things."
Gareki's eye twitched as an image of his beloved goggles with more stitches than strap popped into his head. "Look, can you fix these for me or not?"
The prince was always happy to help anyone, especially the grouchy boy before him that never seemed to ask for assistance. "Of course I can!"
He carefully took the treasured item from its owner and inspected the damage. "The strap is too damaged to fix, I'll have to replace it." He stared at the goggles in deep thought for several moments before he snapped his fingers with an excited epiphany. "I know just what to use!"
The hyperactive blonde quickly set down the goggles on the table before leaning over the back of the cushioned sofa he was sitting on and going through a large pile of clothing that Gareki wasn't able to see. From the black haired boy's perspective, the only things in his line of sight was Yogi's rear end and clothing flying in every direction from behind the couch.
Gareki scowled at himself as he realized he had been looking at the blonde's backside. Admittedly though, it was hard not to with it sticking comically in the air as it was.
He didn't have much time to dwell on it however, as Yogi found what he was looking for and pulled himself up to sit upright on the sofa as he looked at his Circus battle outfit that was ragged and torn.
"You don't mind if the your goggles have a white strap this time do you?" He asked as he ripped the white belt that hung from the waist of his Circus jacket off.
Gareki looked shocked, "Don't rip up your own clothes to fix my stuff!"
Yogi smiled happily, "It's ok Gareki-kun. That jacket was ruined anyway. I only have that pile of clothing there for using them as scraps just like this."
Gareki looked a little uncomfortable but sat down in the empty space on the sofa next to Yogi and mumbled with resignation, "Well, at least white's better than something like pink."
The taller man excitedly began working to replace the broken strap of the goggles with the belt.
After a few minutes of carefully ripping the seams that attached the broken strap to the eye-wear, he kept his attention on his work but asked inquisitively, "Why didn't you just buy some new goggles? Hirato-san just gave you and Nai-chan allowances yesterday."
Gareki frowned and looked away. Just as Yogi began to think he would ignore his question the younger man answered.
"I got these goggles from Tsubame and Yotaka."
Yogi nearly pricked his finger with his needle at hearing the names of the twins from Gareki's childhood. He desperately wanted to ask more questions but knew that the dark haired teen would just get upset at his prying. "Oh, well, that was really nice of them. I can see how these goggles would mean a lot to you if they came from them." He said happily.
Gareki could see that Yogi was holding onto his questions and appreciated the older man's respect for his privacy. Which for some reason made Gareki want to tell him more.
The blonde again narrowly avoided sticking his finger as Gareki freely began telling a story from his past.
"Before I packed up and left that town, I had started building small practice bombs. I didn't have much money so I hadn't gotten myself any safety goggles yet. Instead, I used what money I could spare to buy things I thought were more useful at the time." Gareki smirked ironically to himself, "I should have known that protecting my eyes would have been the most useful thing to spend my money on. But I guess I was a little more sure of my skills back then than I should have been when I was just starting out."
"Anyway, one day I accidentally blew up some gunpowder right in my face. But, I got lucky and just couldn't see for a few days. It screwed my hearing up good for a while and burned my hands some too."
Yogi cringed in sympathy, wanting badly to give Gareki a hug to make him feel better even though those injuries were long since healed. He was able to reign in his emotions enough to keep his hands busy on fixing the goggles though, because he wanted to hear the end of the story, knowing if he angered Gareki he likely would never get to hear the rest.
Gareki quirked an eyebrow at seeing the overly emotional man look at him with tears welling up just behind his eyes. Surprised when after a few moments the blonde made no motion to hug him as he normally would have, he continued his story.
"Well, before I'd even gotten better enough to work on building stuff again, Tsubame and Yotaka brought these goggles to me. They must have spent every little bit that they had saved but they wouldn't take no for an answer. They kept saying that what was most important was that I didn't end up blinding myself."
Yogi finished up tying the knot on the last stitch, cut the extra thread off and delicately handed the goggles back to Gareki with both hands. "I'm really glad that you had someone to take care of you back then Gareki-kun." Yogi's eyes teared up more and he could no longer resist giving Gareki a hug now that the goggles were back in the owner's hands.
"You be sure to take care of those goggles just like they took care of you!" He wailed right next to Gareki's ear as he hugged him fiercely.
The teen knew it was too much to hope for that Yogi would keep his emotions in check the whole time he was there. "Don't yell in my ear!" He tried prying the emotional cat lover off of him by using the man's face as a leverage point.
"Um fwarry!" Yogi's muffled apology came from somewhere behind Gareki's hand.
After managing to free himself and standing up, Gareki inspected the handiwork of the repair job. Anyone could tell that the strap wasn't the one that originally belonged to the goggles, but he had to admit that the white strap didn't look half bad and the stitching was professional. Yogi had even used the belt's buckle so that Gareki could adjust the strap to fit him just right.
Of course he only admitted t himself that he was impressed. He didn't need to tell Yogi that.
He put the goggles back on his head, trying out the new strap and was happy that they fit comfortably.
"So, uh... thanks." He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another. "So I guess, I owe you a favor."
Yogi smiled as brightly as the sun. "You don't owe me any favors. I'm always happy to help out my friends."
Gareki crossed his arms in slight annoyance. "Ok, whatever. I just don't like feeling like I owe people so just let me know if you ever need something from me, like fixing your computer or building a bomb." A wicked smirk crossed his lips, "Though if you want me to make a stink bomb to put in that damn four-eyes room I'll do that for free."
Yogi certainly hoped that Gareki wouldn't put a stink bomb in Hirato's room but the image of the captain making mortified faces at the terrible smells made him chuckle.
"Well I'll see you later then." Gareki turned to leave and Yogi was disheartened that the other was leaving so soon.
Before he knew what he was doing, both of Yogi's hands flew up, grabbing Gareki's wrist. "Spend time with me."
Gareki's head whipped back around to look at the man still sitting on the sofa. "What?"
Yogi's grip on Gareki's wrist tightened, afraid that Gareki would rip his hand free from his any second. "I want to spend time together with you. Just you and me. That's what I want my favor to be."
Gareki couldn't fight the slight blush that rose to his cheeks as he looked into Yogi's bright, earnest eyes and felt the warmth of his hands on his skin.
Before he even had a chance to think about it, he had already agreed.
"Gareki! Look what Yogi just finished!"
Nai came running up to him in the hallway, wearing a full Nyanperona costume, carrying the head piece in his fabric covered hands.
Gareki was annoyed at seeing the cat character again but also relieved to find out that the new mascot costume was for Nai and not him.
"Yogi made it for me so I can hand out candy bars during shows like he does."
The aforementioned blonde joined them from down the same hallway that Nai had come from, with Iva and Tsukumo following behind. "Everyone say hello to Chibi-Nyan!" He said as he took the mascot head from Nai and put it on the boy, completing the costume.
Gareki hadn't noticed it the day before when he was in the sewing room with Yogi, but this costume head was slightly different than the regular Nyanperona character. Its eyes were bigger, which Gareki found shocking that they even could get bigger than the original cat's eyes, and the accessories were slightly different. Instead of the frilly collar, this one had a very large bow that went around its neck and tied in the back.
Gareki was not amused.
He tried to turn to leave but ran into Iva, who had somehow gotten behind him without him noticing. Damned super powered people.
"Gareki-kun! Isn't Nai-chan so cute as Chibi-Nyan!" She put both of her hands on each of his shoulders, forcing him to stay and converse with them. Gareki didn't think she honestly cared what he thought. He got the overwhelming feeling that she was simply in one of her moods where she had decided to make other people suffer.
"Whatever." Gareki grunted and managed to get out of the green-haired woman's grasp. Only because she let him of course.
Iva smiled wickedly, "And what perfect timing that Yogi just finished the costume today! Now Nai-chan can be Chibi-Nyan for the circus tonight so Yogi will be free to have his date with you!"
So that's what got the woman going on her current ornery streak.
Gareki's could feel his face heat up and he dreaded that his cheeks were red. "It's not a date!" He turned on Yogi and demanded, "Why would you tell her that!?"
Yogi held up his hands in defense. "I didn't say that! I only told her that Hirato-san said that we could take time off and just you and I were going to enjoy the circus tonight so we could have some fun together."
"Even I think the way you said that sounds like a date you idiot!" Gareki flushed in a mix of anger and embarrassment.
Nai took off the cat costume head and held it in his hands again. "What's a date?"
Tsukumo innocently took this opportunity to step in. "A date is when two people spend time and do things together."
The niji boy's face brightened, "I want to go on a date with Yogi and Gareki too! It sounds like fun!"
Gareki felt like slapping himself in the face. "We're not going on a date!"
Yogi placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "But if you come with us, who will give out candy bars to all the children?" Nai looked sad, but the blonde continued. "Besides, you spent time with me just a few weeks ago when I took you to that petting zoo, remember?"
The albino cheered up, "Oh yeah! That was really fun."
"Well I wanted to have fun like that with Gareki this time okay? You and I will do something fun again soon though, I promise." Yogi said as he gave the small boy a big hug.
As the taller stood back up, Nai naively mentioned, "I know Gareki will have lots of fun with you today. Since yesterday when you guys made plans, the tiny voices from Gareki have been much happi-urg!"
A hand clamped around his mouth and the temperamental teen quickly dragged him far enough from the group and hissed in a low enough voice that he knew only Nai could hear. "Don't you remember what I told you about talking about other people's 'tiny voices'?" Gareki thanked whatever merciful being was responsible that at least Iva had been temporarily distracted by cooing over how adorable Tsukamo's hair style for tonight's circus show was and neither of the girls seemed to have heard Nai.
Nai's bright eyes gleamed above the hand that was still on his mouth as he guiltlessly shook his head 'no'.
Gareki could swear he could feel his blood pressure rise. "I told you not to do it. Remember this time alright?" He had fight to keep his voice low and removed his hand from the other boy.
"Ok, Gareki. I'll remember this time."
Iva walked passed the two and patted Gareki on the shoulder before wrapping her arm around Nai and pulling him along with her. "We've got to get ready for the circus tonight. But you two enjoy watching us from the other side this time and have fun on your date!" She blew him a kiss just to irritate him more.
"Mind your own damn business! And it's not a date!" Gareki didn't think she was going to let it drop anytime in the foreseeable future. Thank heavens she didn't hear what that blabbermouth niji said. No doubt Hirato would tease him just as mercilessly the next time he saw the four eyes too.
Tsukumo ran up behind Iva and Nai, turning around to wave at the two remaining in the hallway. "Have fun you guys. If you have time, please see the new show tonight."
The hallway became very quiet after they left and Gareki managed to get his irritation under control before turning back to look at Yogi, only to find that the blonde was sporting a dusting of pink on his cheeks. Though the teen didn't know if he was blushing because of Iva's teasing or because of what Nai had blabbed about or both.
Gareki decided it was best to just pretend like the last ten minutes never happened. He thought it would be the best way to keep a skin color he was comfortable with on his face.
Yogi's singsong voice dragged him out of his thoughts. "Well it's a little earlier than we had planned on but do you want to go ahead and head out?"
"Fine. Whatever."
The easily excitable man's face shone as bright as daylight. "Let's not waste any time then!" Without any more warning, he quickly picked up Gareki and used his high powered abilities to race to the exit of the ship.
As he took off at breakneck speed, the raven haired teen wrapped his arms around Yogi's neck without thinking to keep himself from falling. For a moment it almost felt like the prince was whisking him away to go on an adventure.
Gareki mentally punched himself in the face in his mind's eye for thinking such an asinine thought. It was incredibly unmanly. Clearly, the social ineptitude of the people living on Airship Two was starting to rub off on him.
A/N - well I actually wanted to have the whole story written and post the entire thing up at once. But I'm having the hardest time trying to figure out how they're going to start their not-a-date lol. I know how I want it to end (I mean aside from that lol) but I just can't decide on what they should start their time together with. I've thought about it for like a week and I can't come up with anything I really like. So if you have any suggestions, please review and let me know!