Fifty Shades of Grey


"I feel that… I didn't want to feel like I was useless," Iruka explained the next morning, this post-session aftercare felt much more intimate than the ones before despite the distance. They were lying down in bed together, side by side with a river of sheets between them to keep their heads clean. Staring up at the ceiling, Iruka tried to put together his thoughts and the reasons for what had happened last night. "I got it in my head over the week that I was going to fail and… things just sort of spiralled from there."

"Do you think it would have helped if I kept in contact more?" Kakashi didn't press him or try to speak for him, he listened and poked around for more information. Iruka wondered if this was what he did with his clients.

"Maybe."

"That must have been stressful, thinking about it all week," Kakashi's voice was tight with regret.

"It was." Iruka turned over, Kakashi doing the same as the teacher smiled. "But, we learn."

"We do." Kakashi touched Iruka's chin softly, smirking in a way that had Iruka settling into his caring touch. "And the food wasn't that bad last night."

"Yeah, with your help."

"It was mostly you."

"I'm not good at, like, cooking things," Iruka quickly said, trying to bring up excuses.

Kakashi just laughed and Iruka jabbed him in the arm playfully.

"I can't cook for shit, but I can still find a mean restaurant. And bake." Iruka rolled out of bed with a huff but there was no snarky retort back like he expected. Pulling on a shirt, Iruka looked back to find his sultry lover sitting up, brows furrowed and the rest of his face utterly at a loss for words.

"What?" Iruka worried he'd said something wrong.

"You can bake?" Kakashi asked incredulously.

"Yeah?" Iruka answered cautiously.

"Oh my god," Kakashi groaned, dragging hands over his face as he fell back onto the bed in defeat.

"What? What's wrong?" Iruka asked, hovering over Kakashi's dejected form.

"Have you been able to bake this whole time?" Kakashi whined from under his hands.

"Kinda?"

Iruka came to a similar realisation as Kakashi explained, "I didn't ask. I didn't even think about it and if I'd asked, we could've avoided last night."

"Well," Iruka started, wincing at their miscommunication. Soothing a hand through Kakashi's hair, he said, "It would have happened eventually anyway."

"True. Mmm.," Kakashi hummed in frustration, reaching out slyly to hug Iruka's waist as he muttered, "I guess I'd want to give you a challenge anyway."

"Goof," Iruka pecked his forehead and tried to pull loose. "Now, time to get up."

"Can't. Tired brain sucks." Kakashi groaned, almost acting like one of Iruka's kids but in a very Kakashi kind of way.

"Poor, tall man. So tall his brain doesn't work," Iruka taunted, but was rolled down into the mattress with a yelp.

"I am tall." Kakashi's lips were curled up, satisfied with Iruka's surprise. Everything about him had been playful and warm that morning, but the hand snaking up Iruka's shirt was persuasive.

"Do you get better signal up there?" Iruka joked even as their bodies pressed in closer and make his breath hitch. "Or is the hair like an antenna?"

That earned him a deep chuckle, Kakashi's face so close as he whispered before catching Iruka in a smooth kiss, "It's the hair."

It was easy to say that they didn't get out of bed and into the rest of the apartment until late in the evening, but not just because of the hot sex that they kept falling into.

"Feel that?" Kakashi asked, his hands wrapped around Iruka's neck.

Iruka huffed, head feeling light as he panted out, "Yeah, wow."

"Your hands being on my wrists let me know how you're doing," Kakashi explained as he loosened his hands, fingers dragging around the base of Iruka's neck fondly. "Your grip tells me how you're doing. You stop holding on and I'll let go too."

"Cool," Iruka grinned, lightheaded from even the soft squeeze on his pulse.

As Kakashi helped him sit back up, they went back to watching the new season of a show they'd started together a few weeks ago.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something," Iruka muttered as Kakashi's hand smoothed back into his hair from where it had been before their impromptu demonstration.

"You'll remember," Kakashi assured, yawning as squished a cheek against Iruka's head sleepily.

"Yeah," Iruka agreed half-heartedly, feeling like it was something super important. Kakashi's bare legs were very distracting, though. He could help but smile every time he caught a glimpse of those dog-printed boxers.

The man needed to get a real dog one day. If Kakashi ever found a dog-friendly apartment he liked and actually took the plunge, Iruka would personally move all Kakashi's stuff for him. The number of times Iruka found Kakashi slyly looking at adoption pages was astounding and sweet. Although, Iruka did remember that his place was pet friendly. He'd almost been persuaded to get a pet by Kotetsu and Izumo…

Iruka stiffened. "Shit."

"Hm?"

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Get up." Iruka bolted up, pale and shaking as he hurried to the bedroom and left Kakashi a confused but alert mess.

"What? What's wrong?" Kakashi asked as he stood up only to have his pants smack him in the face.

"You gotta go!"

Legs in his pants, Kakashi looked up in a daze to barely catch his shirt. He sadly and uncertainly replied, "Okay…"

From the other side of the bed, Iruka crawled up with a tie in hand and gasped, "My friends are coming over."

"Oh." Urgency understood, Kakashi zipped and threw everything on so quick before helping with clean up.

"God, everything smells like sex," Iruka whined as he ripped open the window and ran to put on a shirt.

"In any other circumstance, I'd flirt," Kakashi agreed as they ran around the room only to freeze at the familiar sound of the doorbell ringing.

Snapping to each other in fear, the lawyer was quicker on his feet. "I'll go out the back."

"Good."

They hurried to the front door, Kakashi for his coat and Iruka to get the door, but they ran into each other.

"Sorry," They both said, trying to go around each other but ending up walking into each other in the small hallway.

Faster than Iruka could process, Kakashi grabbed his hips and pulled him close. With a kiss, Iruka's feet were off the floor and he was watching a grinning Kakashi wave as he headed back towards the kitchen.

The doorbell rang and Iruka ran to catch it, ripping it open only to have his best friends bully passed him.

"Holy shit! The rain is freezing out there," Izumo said as he violently shivered in the entrance like a wet dog.

"Any longer and we'd be popsicles," Kotetsu moaned, pulling off his coat and helping Izumo out of his. "I knew it. He's trying to get us to stay here longer, reel us in with the warmth of his dying radiator."

"If we get sick overnight, I'm staying here forever." Izumo called as he hurried further in, rubbing his arms.

Iruka let himself relax a bit when he didn't hear any calls of surprise. He did peak out the front window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Kakashi's dark coat in the rain. Sadly, it really was raining hard and he couldn't see much, hurrying to join his friends in the kitchen.

"Do you smell that?" Izumo was asking, dropping onto the couch.

Kotetsu visibly sniffed. "Yeah, smells good. What even is that?"

"That…" Iruka grinned as he opened his fridge, presenting a container of leftovers from the night before. "Is what I made last night."

The room went quiet to Iruka's shame.

Finally, Kotestu spoke up. "You? You made that?"

"What?" Izumo whispered in fear.

Iruka groaned and threw it back in the fridge, defeated. "Forget it. Just forget I said anything."

"Hold on a minute." Kotetsu went and pulled the container right back out as Iruka dropped onto the couch, Izumo looking in over his shoulder. "You made this?"

"It's a lie. It's not real," Izumo hushed. "It's plastic."

They poked it and yelped.

"It's real!"

"Oh god!"

"It's on my finger!"

"Get it off! Get it off before it eats your skin off!"

Iruka just sat on the couch, grumbling to himself as they goofed off. He only perked up when Kotetsu hushed, "His dom must have made it."

"He didn't!" Iruka immediately regretted opening that can of worms since both of them set their phasers on him. "He… He helped."

And then the jeers started, getting closer and closer. Ducking under the pillows didn't help, they dragged him out, and started yelling.

"Oh! Hit me, daddy!"

"I've been such a baaaaaddddd boy."

The moans were so over the top Iruka couldn't help but chuckle, all three of them falling into laughter as things eventually calmed down.

"Okay, but I need to know what this guy looks like." Kotetsu wiggled his eyebrows, pulling in close to Iruka. "Like, height, waist measurements. Does he have that swimmer's body, or is he more on the pudgy side?"

Throughout those questions, Iruka pulled up his phone. "This is his Instagram."

"Holy shit." Kotetsu marveled, Izumo leaning in over the couch and watching curiously from afar.

"Yeah," Iruka agreed, trying to hold back the memories of mere hours before; about what happened on that very couch.

"He's not bad," Izumo commented offhand from behind and Izumo nodded.

"Yeah, holy shit." The more Kotetsu stared though, the more he frowned. "Well, as much as I like the whole strong arms deal, he's really tall."

"Yeah." It was only after Iruka's dreamy response that he realised that Kotetsu had presented it as a fault. "You don't like them tall?"

Iruka saw a twitch out of the corner of his eye, Izumo listening very intently for Kotetsu's response.

"Well, I'd like someone more around my height, you know?"

Izumo's eyebrows went up really high, out of Kotetsu's view. Iruka, on the other hand, leaned into that. "Oh? So, like, how tall are we talking about here?"

"Well, like, someone who I can kiss without having to step on my tippy-toes," Kotetsu said offhandedly, and Iruka couldn't get enough of the silent commentary going on behind him.

Later on, when he and Izumo were alone, he raised his eyebrows.

"What?"

Iruka simply glanced towards the bathroom where Kotetsu was.

The other man on the couch went burning red, ignoring Iruka's suggestive looks.

"No," Iruka gasped, knowing exactly what that look was as Izumo melted into frustration.

"Come on! How... I mean... Just look at him!"

"Oh, I'm looking. I'm not into it, but I see where you're coming from."

"Right!?" Izumo grinned, blushing and embarrassed as they both tried to gather themselves before Kotetsu came back.

But, Iruka kept his eye on that almost all night, catching small bits of flustered happiness from his friend towards the third slice of their group. All the while, Kotetsu didn't seem to notice a thing. He was completely oblivious, and it seemed like Izumo was okay with that.

The night ended with them laid out in Iruka's room, the extra mattress pulled out from under the bed for Izumo. Kotetsu had fallen asleep on the couch. Meanwhile, they were laying in the dark, both wide awake and nervous.

"How long has it been?"

Izumo immediately whispered back, "About a year now."

"Wow." Iruka didn't need to wonder why he hadn't noticed. He'd been a shitty friend. He was still frustrated that he hadn't realised that about his best friend, the friend he'd known since high school.

"I mean, like, I didn't really think about it until we had this one night out." Izumo's voice had gone wistful in the dark. "Like, he really gets me and he's so much fun and he's funny and…"

"He's a good guy," Iruka said, nodding to no one.

"Yeah, he really is." Everything went quiet for a second. "Please, don't-"

"I won't."

"Thank you, Iruka."

"No problem, really."

"I missed you."

"I missed you too," Iruka said, grinning into the dark so hard he was worried his excited squirming would keep them up.

They met up after work a few days later to talk more in depth, sitting in a coffee shop between their workplaces. It happened to be the first place he and Kakashi had met, the bookstore across the shop so familiar. He'd spent so many minutes nervously looking at those books.

"Have you told him about it?" Iruka prodded, trying to find a way he could maybe help. Not that he was the best person to give advice. His love life had always been weak and that was an understatement.

"No. God, no." Izumo was blushing into his drink. He wasn't too embarrassed to talk though. "Like, we have these moments though, you know? Like, he looks at me and I look at him and he smiles and…"

Words turned into garbled, happy confusion that Iruka chuckled at.

"I know. I mean, do you want to ever tell him?"

"I think I'm okay like this," Izumo admitted sadly. "We're good like this. I don't want to mess things up."

"I get that." That was a fear Iruka knew well. It wasn't something he'd felt in a long time, thankfully, but he understood. "How do you think he feels?"

"Ehh…." Izumo trailed off, gaze trailing over Iruka's shoulder for a second before they went wide.

There was a sign of recognition in his eyes and Iruka didn't suspect anything before he looked over his shoulder, sight falling upon on the tall and handsome Kakashi Hatake, lawyer at large.

"Ohhhh, this just got so much more interesting," Izumo commented as Iruka's eyes locked with Kakashi's.

Oh, it was going to be so much more than interesting.

Kakashi was standing in line frozen, surprised and unsure of what to do with himself, but Iruka was more focused on the pretty pink that crossed his cheeks and how cute he was.

"Ah," Iruka nervously said, feeling his own cheeks starting to burn from the fluttering in his chest. Instinctively, Iruka raised a hand and waved hesitantly. The burning then spread like a wildfire down his entire front when Kakashi gave a faint, anxious wave back before stepping up to the waiting barista.

"Go over there," Izumo whispered. "Go talk to him."

"And say what?" Iruka took a frantic sip of his drink, glancing back at Kakashi ordering. It was so tempting.

"I don't know. Just get him over here. I want to meet him." Izumo grinned, an unusually mischievous grin pulling at his lips.

"God, Kotetsu is rubbing off on you." Iruka feared for his safety now.

"Hey."

Shooting up, Iruka awkwardly shuffled around as Kakashi stepped up to greet them. Thankfully, he looked just as nervous and awkward as Iruka felt.

"Hey, fancy meeting you here," Iruka tried to casually converse.

"Well, ah, finished work so I was going to grab something before heading home." Kakashi pulled a warm smile before turning to Izumo. "Kakashi, by the way."

"Nice to meet you." Izumo had an all-too pleased smirk painting his face.

"Kakashi, this is Izumo," Iruka tried to introduce.

"Best friend extraordinaire," Izumo said as they shook hands.

"Iruka's told me a lot about you."

"Oh?" Izumo perked up impossibly further. "Hope he's only said good things."

"He has," Kakashi assured, glancing Iruka's way. "I should probably get going. I've got a few loose ends to tie up before work tomorrow."

"Right, well, I'll see you later." Iruka still didn't know what to do, like if he should kiss the man goodbye, hug him, shake his hand.

Thankfully, Kakashi was much more eloquent and quicker to react. With his free hand, he squeezed Iruka's arm discreetly as he waved. "Nice meeting you, Izumo."

"You too!" Izumo called, happily smiling as he whispered, "You goddamn work of art."

Deflating into his seat, Iruka was blissfully happy that the conversation had gone well. He might have also been melted on the inside from getting to see Kakashi out in the world, solidifying the man as a real human and not just a dream.

"I like him," Izumo stated to Iruka's surprise.

"You do?"

"He has a good vibe. Like, really warm on the inside," Izumo wondered aloud before snapping his eyes to Iruka. "So, he works nearby?"

"Yeah," Iruka admitted.

"And he comes here a lot apparently."

Iruka knew where this was going and kept his mouth shut.

"So you knew that he came here often, and you subconsciously brought us here in the hopes that he'd waltz right in."

"I didn't!" Iruka defended to no surprise. "I just... I forgot and I remembered this place was good and..."

Izumo blinked.

"Oh god, I did do that subconsciously, didn't I?"

"And when he walked in here, you melted like butter on toast." Izumo was so proud of himself, relishing in Iruka's uncomfortable squirming.

"It's just that... he's a good guy." Iruka knew that was certain.

"You like him."

"I mean, I don't think I'd do the things we do with a guy I didn't like, you know?" Things would be very weird if they didn't like each other somewhat.

"True." Izumo hummed, getting straight to the thing Iruka hadn't been thinking at all, "So, are you gonna date him?"

The coffee in Iruka's mouth almost ended up on the table, all over Izumo and dripping down Iruka's shirt. Thankfully, he was too shocked and confused to even open his jaw. He could just blink, and Izumo would realise that his question hadn't even been pondered, especially after what happened last time any dating happened.

"I'm sorry," Izumo quickly jumped in. "Don't- You don't have to answer that. That was really insensitive."

"No," Iruka managed after swallowing roughly. "It's fine. It's… fine. I mean, I'm over Mizuki. Really."

"Mhm." The other man hummed, suspicious, even though he didn't speak it.

The truth was, Iruka didn't think that question applied. Kakashi wasn't in a relationship with him. He wasn't in a relationship with Kakashi. They were partners, sure. Other than BDSM, that was as far as their connection went. At least, that was what Iruka thought.

That question fell to the back of his mind as he and Izumo talked more. It didn't come up again, and Iruka eventually forgot about it as he remembered the phone call in the middle of the night a few nights before and how odd it sounded. He wanted to mention how he wondered if maybe it was work or someone who Kakashi was involved with, but left that out when Izumo reassured him that it was probably nothing. It did feel weird, though, and Iruka added it to the many mysteries of Kakashi Hatake.

The question of dating did pop up again when Kakashi stepped inside his apartment the next Friday. They were continuing with using the kitchen as their playground, but this time they weren't cooking.

Kakashi had left the option open of what to make tonight. The only rule: Kakashi had to like it. As they waited for the last batch of cookies to be done, they stood across the island from each other. Dark eyes roamed over Iruka's nervous frame as the question came back to mind and Iruka almost laughed.

They couldn't. No, they wouldn't work in a normal relationship.

"If they taste good, you'll get a treat," Kakashi was saying and Iruka shivered.

Yeah, this was good.

"But if they don't," Kakashi explained as he stood. The timer went off and Iruka's length pulsed harder under the cock ring and the friction of his pants. The sensual way Kakashi's fingers trailed along the countertop as he walked around to Iruka's side was dangerous, but his voice was liquid sex in Iruka's ear as he whispered, "I'll forbid you from touching yourself without my permission."

Iruka didn't need anything else because this was perfect.

At least, that was what he told himself to soothe the fear in his chest. And it wasn't a fear brought on by Kakashi saying, "By the way, I don't like sweets."