Person A is planning to take a shower but Person B steals it from them at the last second. Person A threatens to join them if Person B doesn't give up the shower. Person B thinks they're bluffing. It turns out that they're not.


"Hey," Gene greeted Yasuhara upon entry to their shared room.

"Hey," Yasuhara replied from his bed. "Good day?"

"Eh, bit dull, truth be told."

Yasuhara rolled over so he could better see his roommate. He yawned and stretched upwards so that his shirt lifted, revealing a thin strip of skin. Gene's eyes flickered to the smooth stretch broken only by a snail trail. A sly smirk formed on Yasuhara's face as Gene's eyes darted away, evidently scared of being caught. Although they had only known each other a few weeks, the two young men got on well. And Yasuhara had a suspicion that Gene was just as gay as he was.

This revelation thrilled him, truth be told. He found Gene to be attractive, intelligent and full of a lively humour that enamoured him towards his new roommate.

But these flowery words came down to one thing: Yasuhara had a massive crush. He wanted to spend time with Gene, to laugh with Gene, to cook with Gene, to work with Gene… Everything in his life sounded better with the suffix 'with Gene'.

"I'm going for a run," Gene muttered, breaking through Yasuhara's thoughts.

He shook his head and forced his brain to focus on the matter at hand.

"How far?"

"Just a five-K I think, down to the park and back."

"Sounds fun."

"You could join me?" Gene offered as he rummaged through a drawer for running clothes.

"I'll pass," Yasuhara replied. "I need to—" A sudden devious thought struck him. "— I need to have a shower."

He watched Gene intently for any reaction to support his 'Gene was also gay' theory. He was not to be disappointed. Gene made a strange noise and redoubled his efforts to find running clothes with an extra degree of clumsiness. When he turned around, he had clutched the clothes he would be changing into over his crotch.

Yasuhara smirked.

"I'm just going to get changed," Gene squeaked. "In the bathroom."

"Change here, I don't mind," Yasuhara insisted. "I won't look."

He turned back over onto his front to look at his book again, knowing that Gene would still be frozen behind him.

"I'll—"

A scampering sound and a door closing came from behind him. Gene had hidden in the bathroom. Yasuhara found it amazing that a young man who was otherwise so confident and outgoing could be so shy and awkward around undressing — even to the slightest degree — in front of him.

Yet he would be lying if he said it was not endearing.

Not two minutes later, Gene darted out of the bathroom and straight for the front door with a cry of, "I'll be back soon!" and just like that, he was gone.

Yasuhara sighed, put down his book and pondered the best course of action. He would have to shower now, to make his previous story creditable. But how best to do it…?

He could time his exit from the shower with Gene's arrival back perhaps… With a towel artistically draped around his body… Or already be out and in the process of changing...

Yasuhara was unsure what would cause the best reaction from Gene. There was also the chance, however small he believed it to be, that Gene did not feel the same way. If that was the case, then any bold action on his part would be a disaster. He would lose his roommate and his friend.

Yet something about Gene's reactions around him gave him confidence. Whenever they were alone, he felt Gene's eyes linger on him for longer than strictly necessary. Whenever they touched by accident, Gene never hastened to pull away. Whenever he made a particularly bad joke, Gene always laughed longer than needed in order to be polite.

If there were not the symptoms of attraction in some form, what on earth were?

He spent so long pondering the matter, than Gene arrived back before he could put any plan into action. Gene burst through the door, panting and clutching his sides.

"Hey, how was your run?"

Gene flopped onto the floor and groaned.

"That good huh? You should eat something, you look dead," he advised. "I'm gonna shower in a minute so—"

"You still haven't showered?"

"No, I got caught up with my book," Yasuhara lied.

"Could you get me the milk?"

"For you? Sure," Yasuhara said with a light laugh.

He headed for the fridge in the kitchenette and poured Gene a large glass of milk. Yet when he turned around to walk back, Gene had disappeared from the floor.

The sound of water running invaded Yasuhara's ears.

"Oi! I just said I was going to shower!" he complained through the door to the bathroom.

"Yeah well I am all sweaty and achy and the hot water will help my poor muscles," Gene whined.

An idea hit Yasuhara and he grinned.

"I swear I will come in there and shower with you if you do not come out right now."

"I locked the door."

"I can pick that lock."

"But I'm naked… Well not quite, but I will be in a minute."

"You being naked really doesn't deter me. Give the shower up, right now," Yasuhara demanded.

A smirk formed across his face as he imagined the poor thoughts that were likely crossing Gene's mind. Yet Yasuhara found himself hesitating. Was this all an idle hope? Would this be pushing things too far? He pushed the doubt aside, he had begun this. He would finish it.

"I would have thought that as a lawyer-in-training you'd respect my right to privacy."

"As a lawyer-in-training, I respect that you broke the verbal agreement set down previously. I have given you the choice—"

"Ultimatum," Gene interjected.

"— and now you must decide. Either you come out, or I will join you."

"There isn't enough room for both of us in this shower cubicle!" Gene argued.

"I'm not bothered," Yasuhara said and he shrugged. "You've got ten seconds."

"Yasuhara you can't! I'm trying to shower!"

"Five seconds left!"

"But I'm naked now!"

"All the encouragement I need," Yasuhara muttered under his breath. "Alright, I'm coming in!"

Everything went quiet as Yasuhara began to pick the lock on the bathroom door.

"Yasuhara! What are you doing? You aren't really breaking in, are you?" The agitation in Gene's voice was evident, but Yasuhara did not relent in this task. The knob rattled as he worked until—

The door popped open.

"Ahh!" Gene squealed in a pitch Yasuhara did not know he could reach.

The door had not swung open enough for Yasuhara to afford a peek of Gene's body and he hesitated in pushing it open further. It had all been a fun game up until now. But if he went ahead... If he pushed this door open…

There would be no turning back.

Yasuhara's hand hovered just above the handle when a timid voice from inside spoke.

"Are you… Are you joining me then?"

"Do you want me to?" Yasuhara was annoyed to find his own voice did not sound as confident as he wanted it to be.

"Well we both need to shower… It would save water to do it together. It's better for the environment…"

"And you must know how much I care for… The environment."

"Exactly."

Yasuhara pushed the door open. Steam had covered the outside of the shower cubicle, providing Gene with all the privacy he could have wanted. Now that he was inside the bathroom, Yasuhara found it hard to make eye contact with Gene. So he set to another task.

He stripped off his garish orange Uni t-shirt and batman pyjama bottoms, placed his glasses safely by the sink and strode towards the shower. Gene pushed the cubicle door so that it opened just enough that it did not close again right away. Yasuhara felt the invitation in the action and reached to pull the door open wider, grateful for Gene's action.

Yasuhara stepped inside. His already poor vision was clouded by the steam. He could just make out the brightly coloured blobs that he knew to be shampoo bottles skirting the edge of the shower basin. Poor as his eyesight was, his focal range was just far enough to be able to see Gene in perfect detail.

"It's a little cramped, huh," Yasuhara mumbled.

"I told you it wouldn't be big enough for the two of us," Gene said.

Neither of them had made eye contact. Yasuhara opened his mouth to speak again, but his voice stuck in his throat. He forced a dry swallow.

"Well if you weren't standing all the way over there," Yasuhara muttered.

As if to remedy this, they both stepped towards one another. Yet as soon as they made contact, their eyes met and they sprung apart. In doing so, Gene hit his head on the showerhead.

"Ouch!"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'll live."

Gene reached a hand up to rub his sore head.

"Here, let me kiss it better," Yasuhara insisted, batting away Gene's hand.

And he did. Tenderly taking Gene's head between his hands, he brought it close enough to place a gentle kiss on his crown.

"Better?"

"Much."

Gene's cheeks had reddened, but Yasuhara was unsure whether this action was due to his own or due to the heat of the water. Nevertheless, he did not let go immediately. And Gene gave no indication that he wanted him to either.

Yasuhara stared into Gene's eyes as a warmth spread throughout his chest. Something about the man in front of him made him so inexplicably happy. He wanted to put this into words, yet he knew not how. What mere words would be good enough? None of them. But he would try regardless.

"Gene?"

"Yes?"

"I… I really like you."

Gene made a pointed look down to their crotches.

"I'd never have guessed."

They laughed nervously.

"I like you too." The words burst out of Gene's lips in a garbled mess, but Yasuhara did not care. He grinned at Gene's increasingly red cheeks.

"Good."

Gene leant forwards an inch, then paused, withdrew and bit his lip. Yasuhara made to close the gap between them, but Gene's courage chose to rise to the occasion at the same moment. Their lips pressed together for all of five seconds before they broke apart and giggled.

Yasuhara lowered his hands and placed them around Gene's waist. He initiated the contact again, keeping the contact as soft and gentle as before. The kiss ended and they both giggled again .

"Your scream when I managed to open the door sounded like a little kid's," Yasuhara teased.

"Shut up!"

Gene pouted, his eyebrows furrowed together in a manner that Yasuhara found adorable.

"Make me."

Gene forced Yasuhara's silence with a kiss. They would part, but Gene would press again. And again. And again.

And soon any notion of 'saving water' was lost.


Author's note: My naming of fics is just getting more and more imaginative... Another Massive Thanks with a captial T for TeaAddictedGhostHunter for editing this! Please review!