I don't know how, but this has turned into more than a one-shot. I have so many people to blame for this... but most of all, i blame Eike. Thanks for betaing, tho :P Also, thanks Galux for telling me Shinobu got way too snotty. He feels bad about it. Really. :)

Houdini
A Junjou Terrorist fic by Avarice

Part 2

Shinobu drew back from Lachlan's mouth with the quietest gasp he could muster under the circumstances. He looked around quickly, but no one else in the mostly-empty movie theatre saw the two boys sitting in the back row. Turning back, he saw Lachlan's mouth split into a grin, where only straight, white teeth were visible.

Lachlan was, by all standards, a good match.

He was seventeen, like Shinobu, though he had another 6 months over the Japanese boy.

He was tall -- and Shinobu liked tall -- towering a whole head over him.

He was smart, and did excellently at school work in general, and had even taken Japanese as a subject for two years. With Shinobu's help, he was getting even better.

He had dark hair, and while that might've seemed rather ridiculous from someone who came from a land of dark-haired people, it was just something Shinobu found more aesthetically pleasing than fair.

He smoked. While it wasn't a healthy habit by any means, there was something that Shinobu felt comforted by. He often found himself demanding to wear Lachlan's private school blazer, taking time to bury his nose in the lapel when no-one else was looking.

Oh yes, there were many reasons to like Lachlan.

Lachlan was fun. He smiled a lot. He always complimented Shinobu, whether it was about his latest exam result, or how well he was speaking English -- though it had taken quite a while to get the pronunciation of Lachlan's name correct (when Shinobu rushed, it still ended up sounding like 'Rocky').

He was inordinately pleased when Shinobu dropped Australian colloquialisms into his speech, and had laughed until soft drink came out of his nose when the Japanese youth one day calmly observed rainy weather and told him it was 'bloody pissing down'.

There was just something about him that projected comfort and safety, though Shinobu was never sure exactly what.

Lachlan slid across the seat closer to Shinobu, pushing the hand rest between them up and into the back of the chair, and Shinobu let him. One hand drifted to his waist, the arm skimming the length of his thigh as it went. Lachlan's other arm rested atop the seats behind Shinobu's head. They were close, but firm boundaries that each party respected were still in place.

In response to Lachlan's move, Shinobu's arms went around Lachlan's chest, drawing them together.

It was true, the Australian boy was very nearly perfect.

It was just that he wasn't big enough. Shinobu frowned as his arms encircled Lachlan's torso. He was entirely too skinny, not nearly broad enough at the shoulders or wide enough around the chest. Sometimes it felt like hugging a bag of bones.

Lachlan noticed Shinobu's expression illuminated from the screen and grew uneasy.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"What?" Shinobu asked, irritated at his annoyance, out of sorts that it was noticed. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"You sure?" Lachlan asked apprehensively.

Shinobu rolled his eyes and withdrew his arms from Lachlan's body, choosing to wrap them around his own instead. "Yes." He turned back to the screen, brows in a dangerous line. The whirring sound of the projector above their heads was suddenly very audible. He felt bad when Lachlan's hand left his waist; the look on the other boy's face made him feel worse.

"It's sticking into me," Shinobu offered instead, inclining his head towards the folded-up armrest. It had been pushed back as far as it would go, but still managed to stick out enough to be a bother -- at least, if someone were looking for an excuse for it to be.

Lachlan laughed lightly, a sound of relief. With a mollifying sigh, Shinobu tugged Lachlan's arm -- the one still around the back of his chair -- around himself. Taking the hint, Lachlan very gently pulled Shinobu towards him until the boy was flush against his chest.

Shinobu turned his attention back to the screen for as long as it took for Lachlan to forget the disturbance. When it was all but forgotten, he closed his eyes and nestled in further. The slightly acrid smell of nicotine hit Shinobu's nostrils as he buried his nose in the lapel of Lachlan's jacket, and for just a few moments more, he was happy.