Wow. Okay, first, I have to apologize for Tatsumi's major OOCness. I wanted to write a cute little romance scene between the two of them, but Tatsumi kept wanting to become… Hisoka-like. Whatever, I hope it makes for an okay story. Maybe he would act that way around someone he likes. Oh well!
Disclaimer: Really? Really? Sigh, nope, don't own them.
Watari was following the path of Tatsumi's footsteps, but was beginning to get worried. The snow was coming down really hard and it was getting tricky to see in front of him. After a few minutes, Watari realized that there was no longer a path in front of him. He looked around and noticed Tatsumi sitting on a park bench hunched over with his collar turned up to protect his neck from the cold. Watari turned around and trudged through the knee deep snow, finally coming to rest in front of the soggy secretary. Tatsumi looked up squinting in the wind.
"What are you doing here? I thought you would be back at the office by now." Watari said, sitting down next to him. He noticed Tatsumi rubbing his hands together and went to take of the borrowed gloves, but Tatsumi noticed the movement and smiled.
"I'm fine. You keep the gloves, okay?" Watari nodded but took Tatsumi's hands in his own and rubbed them together.
"So, really, why are you here? Did something happen?" Watari look concernedly over Tatsumi's body as if looking for breaks or bruises.
"Oh, It was getting too dark and snowy to see and I knew I was just going to get lost if I kept walking around aimlessly. I thought it would be better to wait the storm out." Tatsumi laughed. "But I guess this wasn't the best place to wait. I should've tried to find shelter or something, huh?" Watari thought for a moment.
"Do you know about where we are? Or what direction from the office we are? Because I think I know where we can wait." Tatsumi described the general direction of where they were and Watari's eyes lit up.
"Perfect! Okay, so, see that group of trees over there? To the right of that is my second lab." He nudged Tatsumi, adding, "You know, the one you wouldn't let me have in the office." Watari smiled and stood up, pulling Tatsumi along with him. They walked to the small building and Watari punched in his entrance code, the doors sliding open to admit them. Tatsumi looked around in amazement. So this was where Watari hid out after a big explosion. It was almost a mirror of his lab back at the office in space and equipment, but for some reason there seemed to be more glowing substances in beakers and test tubes here.
"Oh, please don't touch anything. I'm not even sure what some of them do, so it's probably better to leave them alone." Watari led Tatsumi to the back and opened another door into a living area. There was a small kitchen and a big couch that looked like Watari had spent many a night sleeping on it. The scientist bustled about the kitchen preparing hot tea for the two of them to drink while Tatsumi watched from the couch.
"Can I ask you something? Why did you ask me to take a walk with you? Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?" Watari set the tea on the table and took a seat next to Tatsumi, training his golden eyes on him. Tatsumi sat in silence for a moment, thinking about the question.
"Tsuzuki asked some interesting questions the other day. I wasn't quite sure how to answer a few of them. Most of them were involving you." Tatsumi said, taking his tea cup and holding it in his hands.
"Well? What were they? I want to know now! Tsuzuki always asks the funniest questions…" Watari remembered when Tsuzuki would come into his lab and start asking questions about everything.
"He asked me, 'You know that Watari likes you, right? So why aren't you doing anything about it? It's annoying to everyone in the office and I think that Hisoka is going to murder Watari if he doesn't stop talking about you.' And I couldn't answer him. Of course, I've always known that you were interested in me, but I guess I've never had the chance to think about what my feelings are." He looked away as he said this.
"So, have you figured it out yet?" Watari asked, keeping his distance so as not to disturb Tatsumi if he responded negatively.
"I'm not sure. Ever since he said that, I can't seem to get you out of my mind. It's really quite annoying." Tatsumi frowned, thinking about all the work he should have been doing when he had been daydreaming about Watari. Watari sucked in a quick breath at the news. So Tatsumi had been thinking about him. Watari reached out with one hand and turned Tatsumi's head to face him once again.
"What do you think about, when you think of me?" Watari asked, keeping his hand on Tatsumi's cheek. Tatsumi closed his eyes at the soft touch and sighed.
Opening his eyes again, he reached out and tucked one of Watari's loose hairs behind his ear, saying softly, "Just little things like this. Or I'll catch a glimpse of you walking outside my window and I'll think that I want to be there with you." A slight blush was creeping up his neck, though he was hiding it well. Watari leaned in slowly and pressed their lips together, just once, before pulling back.
"Was that okay? I want you to know, I think about you all the time as well." He leaned forward and hugged Tatsumi, pulling the bewildered secretary close. His fantasies were finally becoming reality, but he didn't want to rush the other man. He stood up.
"Well, it looks like we'll be here for a while, so I'll make some food. How does instant ramen sound?" Watari asked, searching through his cupboards and coming up with two packets of noodles. Tatsumi was still sitting stunned on the couch, but he shook his head and nodded it was okay. Watari put on some water to boil yet again and leaned against the counter, gazing at the man he had dreamed about for the longest time. He looked a bit lost and helpless, as if he couldn't think of what to do next. Watari took pity on his apparent lack of words and started more of his aimless chatter.
"So you see, now that you know about this place, I'm sure I can convince you to give me a little extra funding, right? I mean, with all this extra space, I could totally fit a ton of new equipment. It would be so awesome!" Watari smiled at the thought.
"No. In fact, going behind my back and using a second lab anyway could get you in serious trouble. I'm sure you wouldn't want anything bad to happen to this place, but I know that the Gushoshins wanted a new storage building for the old books that don't fit in the library…" Tatsumi smiled as well, though his was tainted with malice. Watari sighed, partly in disappointment and partly in relief. He was glad Tatsumi was back to his normal self. The water was boiling and Watari put the noodles in, setting a timer for eight minutes and stepping away again.
"Is there anything I can do? I feel kind of useless sitting here." Tatsumi said, looking around. The room wasn't exactly huge, and he was beginning to feel a little stifled.
"Well, if you really want to help me out, you can take off your coat and shirt. Just looking at you is making me sweat. It's like a hundred degrees in here! Aren't you steaming?" Watari asked, having deposited his own coat when he first entered. He was currently in a black tank top with his hair tied back in a red ribbon. Tatsumi took off his coat, but, unfortunately for Watari, did not remove his shirt.
"Okay, it's ready! Hooray! Let's eat." Watari gave Tatsumi a bowl and sat next to him again, quickly slurping up the hot noodles. Tatsumi tested the soup warily with a finger, pulling it back in pain as the hot liquid burned his skin.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I should have put some ice in yours too, huh?" He grabbed Tatsumi's injured hand and put the injured finger in his mouth, sucking on the burn until he felt it begin to heal.
"Don't you just love our healing abilities?" Watari released Tatsumi who had his mouth open and was staring at Watari with a strange look on his face. Watari couldn't help himself, he leaned in again and kissed the startled man, this time longer and harder. Tatsumi finally responded, reaching a hand up to nest in Watari's long blonde hair. Watari stopped himself forcefully from doing anything else and leaned back against the couch, beaming. Tatsumi looked a little confused but didn't say anything, instead going back to his dinner and finishing it off.
"Thanks for everything, Watari." Tatsumi said, closing his eyes and leaning back after he set the bowl down. Watari was about to respond, but noticed that Tatsumi was already asleep. He smiled yet again and cleaned up the room before turning off the lights and joining Tatsumi on the couch.
yeah, so this was just my first attempt at Tatari... I'm not sure if there will be more chapters after this one... certainly not for a while. Finals are coming up! Yes, so, please review... I know it's a little rough, but i'm hoping it turned out all right. Thanks!