Ah, tequila was a good beverage to relieve any stress.

Sitting all by himself on the couch, Aki sipped the tequila from a striped blue and white straw. His eyes skimmed the first paragraph on a newspaper he had sitting in his lap. An elbow rested on the arm of his seat. A dirtied ashtray sat on the arm, too, already filled with a pile of cigarette butts. Aki's been busy this evening.

Black bags hung below his eyes.

Creases appeared on his forehead.

With a loud yawn, Aki wiped his mouth and rested his head back on the arm of the couch. As he stared at the ceiling light, his eyes rolled around in their sockets.

Aki straightened his arm. The bone clicked. He let out a low, miserable groan.

"Fuckin' bored," he murmured.

The light flickered, even dimmed. Aki gently swayed the cup in his hand, having the straw spin around in the motion. It was a tall, narrow glass.

Just then, the door slammed. Aki jumped, the cup clinking in his hand. Aki perked up from the armrest.

"Hm?"

His eyes traveled back to the floor. Aki didn't seem bothered that somebody was back. His head rested on the arm of the sofa a second time, and this time, he closed his eyes.

"Aki!" Denji called out.

"Fuck sake-" Aki groaned, still keeping his eyes shut.

"I wrote Miss Makima a letter," he confessed without a care in the world.

Aki still didn't flinch, "I wonder why."

"I think we should get a game console and I want Miss Makima to buy it for us."

"And you can't get the money for that yourself?"

"Nope," Denji shook his head.

Aki just rolled his eyes in contempt.

Taking a seat beside Aki, the annoying blonde leaned in close and caught the straw in between his lips. Denji started to drink the tequila, drinking at least two quarters of it before Aki caught him red handed. The straw managed to collect all the liquid, leaving nothing left for Aki.

"DENJI!" Aki barked, "I was gonna finish that. You're not even eighteen and yet you're drinking someone else's alcohol, you idiot."

In response, Denji merely shrugged, letting out a burp in Aki's face.

"Read my letter! I need a miserable adult to help me with the sentences and spelling mistakes," stated Denji while he planted the letter in Aki's lap.

Aki's eye twitched, seeing the letter cover the text in the newspaper.

"Makima isn't gonna get you a fuckin' game console. Get money and do it yourself!" Aki spat, "I guess you could either whore yourself out, get idiots to use you as a chair, or even get a part-time job somewhere in town. But that's if anyone would give you a chance."

"What about Power?"

Aki just laughed.

"She's not gonna buy you a game console, idiot. No matter what you think," he sneered.

"Yeah but...Power's done a lot of things for me-" Denji replied, placing an index finger onto his bottom lip as he thought about it, "Power did let me squeeze her boobs once. For something in return. Can't remember what, though."

"Get a fuckin' job!" Aki screamed, "so you can earn money to buy your stupid game console, and get me another bottle of tequila."

Denji just looked at Aki with a blank expression, the tip of his finger on his bottom lip doing the talking.

"That tequila tasted a lot like black pepper...it wasn't nice at all," Denji remarked.

"So you drank it to be annoying?"

Denji shrugged his shoulders.

The blonde rested his head on Aki's shoulder, getting himself comfortable as he nuzzled his body into the couch and Aki's side.

"Well, no! How else would I get your attention?" Denji asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Aki rolled his eyes again.

"You want me to be annoying?" Denji asked rhetorically, "I think you're the one who's annoying. You're always complaining about everything. You complain about working so much, about your cigarettes, about Power and me. How do you think it makes me feel hearing your constant whining?"

However, this little rant never stopped Denji from leaning into Aki.

"I'm the oldest one here. I'll tell you how it is, not you."

Denji merely nuzzled his head into Aki's shoulder.

"Whatever. I quit arguing."

Laying his head on the armrest again, Aki just grumbled. He didn't bother trying to push Denji away from him. Aki wormed his arm around Denji's shoulders, soon pulling the blonde in close. He lifted his head, picking up the letter with his free hand in the process. His grey eyes gave the letter a quick skim read.

"I'll correct your spelling mistakes," offered Aki, "but don't blame me if Makima turns this letter down. You can't expect her to buy you everything."

"Mhm," he intoned, looking at Aki.

The lightbulb continued to flicker in the apartment. Aki and Denji sat on the sofa all night, either because they were lazy or they actually enjoyed each other's company.

Denji was the first to fall asleep. He groaned in the middle of his slumber, falling onto Aki's lap. He cuddled close to Aki, snoring like a pig.

"Fuck sake," cursed Aki under his breath, trying to concentrate on the letter.

"Aki-" Denji groaned in his sleep, lifting a hand and having it slap Aki around the face.

Aki's brows furrowed.

All the letter read was:

'To Miss Makima,

Please can I have a Nintendo DS?

I know I haven't killed the Gun Devil yet but I will, I promise!'

That was it. Aki just scoffed at the attempt. This sixteen-year-old's never been in school and only ever hunted devils for a living - of course he didn't write any letters before. The writing was huge, too, and took up the entire page. Not to mention the letter was written on the clear side of a takeaway flyer.

Aki just looked down at Denji, watching the blonde sleep in his lap, and Denji used the newspaper as a pillow. Aki dropped the letter on the floor before falling asleep.

"What an idiot," he murmured to himself before resting his head onto the armrest.