Chapter 7
Shuichi woke up late that afternoon--blinking in the late afternoon light streaming in through the windows. He yawned and stretched then lay there looking up at the ceiling for a moment. Shuichi was happy to finally be home and able to sleep late in Yuki's--no, make that 'their'--nice soft bed.
He'd been sleeping with Yuki every night for months now. Since moving in, he'd usually start out sleeping with Yuki, but Yuki used to kick him out for fidgeting too much or stealing the covers. Now, Yuki would just yank the covers back, or shove Shuichi to the far side of the bed so the tossing and turning wouldn't bother him--still not exactly sweet and loving, but certainly an improvement.
Shuichi rolled over onto his side and propped his head up with one hand so that he had a better view of his sleeping lover. Yuki was just too cute when he was unconscious. He was sleeping on his stomach, per usual, with one arm curled under his pillow and the other dangling off the side of the bed. The blankets had slipped down to his waist, revealing an enticing stretch of smooth, fair skin. But it was Yuki's hair that Shuichi just couldn't resist. It had dried into a mass of golden spikes and cowlicks that Shuichi was itching to run his hands through.
Just as Shuichi leaned in to touch Yuki, Shuichi's stomach growled loudly and Yuki's eyes sprung open--causing Shuichi to freeze in place as if he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't. Yuki turned slightly, so he could look over his shoulder at Shuichi, and asked suspiciously, "What are you doing?"
Shuichi swiftly put down the hand he suddenly realized he'd still been holding up and said, a shade too brightly, "Nothing." Shuichi could just imagine what Yuki would say if he admitted to nearly petting him.
Yuki snorted skeptically, then suggested, "Then why don't you get up and do something useful."
"But--" Shuichi started to protest, he wasn't going to let Yuki break a couple month streak of not kicking him out without a fight, but he was interrupted by his stomach growling even louder than the first time.
"Lunch," Yuki clarified sitting up in bed and smoothing down his hair with one hand. Shuichi pouted a little because he didn't get to do it himself. Yuki wondered what Shuichi was pouting about then dismissed it as unimportant. "Italian," Yuki added--they hadn't had any good pasta in a while.
"Okay," Shuichi agreed, lunch sounded good to him too. He turned to climb out of his side of the bed, took the covers in one hand to push them off, then paused, blushing a deep crimson. "Uh, Yuki?" Shuichi asked sounding embarrassed.
Yuki, who was putting on the robe he'd just retrieved from a hook behind the bedroom door, turned back to look at Shuichi. "What?" he asked irritably, Shuichi asking for something rarely boded well.
"Could you toss me some underwear?" Shuichi asked sheepishly.
"You didn't mind me seeing you naked this morning," Yuki pointed out as he walked over to the dresser he grudgingly agreed to share with Shuichi not too long ago. Why Yuki was so reluctant to share was a mystery to Shuichi, Yuki'd only been using two of the six drawers. Besides socks and underwear, Yuki left almost all of his clothes on the hangers the laundry sent them back on.
"That was different," Shuichi protested. Nudity in the bath or during sex was one thing, being naked where someone else could see was something else entirely.
Yuki grabbed the first pair of boxers he came to in Shuichi's underwear drawer and held up a pair of yellow shorts with green bunnies on them. Yuki glanced at the shorts, then at Shuichi, then back at the shorts. A mocking smirk on his lips, Yuki tossed the boxers to Shuichi.
"They were on sale," Shuichi said as he caught the shorts. Shuichi pulled on the boxers while carefully keeping under the covers till he was decently clothed.
Yuki started to swear quietly, after reaching into the robe pocket where he normally kept cigarettes and a lighter and coming up empty. Now he remembered. Before they left he'd been almost out of cigarettes. Since they were leaving, he hadn't bothered to restock the apartment.
Muttering angrily to himself, Yuki exited the bedroom looking for a nicotine fix. The train they took was non-smoking and after that he spent most of the day unconscious. It had been a while since Yuki's last cigarette. If it turned out that he had let himself run completely out of his drug of choice, Yuki was going to be extremely pissed with himself.
Shuichi put on a random pair of shorts and a clashing t-shirt and followed Yuki out of the room. His stomach picking just then to remind him of how empty it was, he made a beeline for the kitchen phone, dialed Yuki's favorite Italian restaurant from memory, and placed their usual order. That taken care of, Shuichi hopped up on one of the kitchen stools and watched Yuki's so far fruitless search for cigarettes.
Yuki searched all of the usual places--the kitchen cupboard, the box on the coffee table, his desk drawer--nothing. Returning to the den from his office, Yuki's eyes landed on the wrinkled jacket he'd left on the couch early that morning. Snatching up the jacket and emptying out the pockets onto the coffee table, Yuki came up with keys, a wallet, a lighter, and one pack of cigarettes--one mostly empty and completely crushed pack of cigarettes. Yuki contemplated the bent and broken cigarettes for a moment. Then he tossed them aside, grabbed his keys and wallet off the table, and headed toward the front door.
"Yuki?" Shuichi called, momentarily stalling Yuki's progress.
"What?" Yuki barked, in no mood for a lecture on the evils of smoking.
"Bathrobe," Shuichi smugly pointed out, huge grin on his face. It wasn't often that he corrected Yuki rather than the other way around.
Yuki turned around and went back to the bedroom, muttering something indecipherable under his breath. Seconds later he came back out clad in khakis and a gray turtle neck sweater. Stepping into the loafers he'd discarded earlier that day on his way to the door, this time he got as far as grasping the doorknob before Shuichi stopped him with another, "Yuki?"
"Yes?" Yuki said warningly, not turning around or removing his hand from the knob. He appreciated the save with the bathrobe, but that didn't mean he was in the mood for any of Shuichi's nonsense.
"Lunch is suppose to be here in twenty minutes," Shuichi said.
"I'm just going to the corner store," Yuki answered, not seeing what Shuichi was getting at.
"If the food gets here before you get back, how am I supposed to pay for it?" Shuichi asked.
Yuki actually turned to look over one shoulder at Shuichi at this point, "And why, pray tell, can't you pay for lunch with your own money?" Yuki knew for a fact that Shuichi's income had just exceeded his own--the tour was very successful.
"My wallet didn't fit in my stage costume so I left it in my luggage," Shuichi explained. "I'm broke 'til Hiro brings me my stuff."
Yuki, without saying a word, took his wallet out of his back pocket, took out enough money to cover lunch, tossed the cash on the table, and left to buy his smokes.
Half an hour later, Shuichi had just finished putting the food on actual plates and setting the table--that is kitchen counter/bar. Thinking that Yuki's clam linguini looked pretty good, maybe even better than his own pasta primavera, Shuichi was just about to take a forkful of Yuki's meal--just to test it out and it's not like Yuki would ever have to know, he wouldn't miss one bite--when the front door swung open and banged against the wall adjacent.
A clearly seething Yuki stormed into the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him. He put the couple cartons of cigarettes he'd originally set out to buy down on the coffee table, took a couple calming drags off the one he was smoking, then unfolded and looked down at the newspaper he'd had tucked under one arm.
"Uh... Did something happen?" Shuichi asked nervously.
In response, Yuki simply tossed the newspaper he'd been looking at on the bar next to Shuichi's plate. Shuichi glanced down at the half page picture on the front of the entertainment section and exclaimed, "Aww, Yuki's so cute!" Looking up from the picture to the real life Yuki's pop-eyed incredulous expression, Shuichi asked confusedly, "Yuki's not cute?"
Yuki stood there, blinking at Shuichi--completely at a loss for words.
Shuichi looked back at the picture, trying to puzzle out what the big deal was. The light suddenly dawning, Shuichi exclaimed, "Hey! Someone was in our bedroom taking pictures. That's... that's kind of creepy," he finished with a shudder.
Shuichi woke up late that afternoon--blinking in the late afternoon light streaming in through the windows. He yawned and stretched then lay there looking up at the ceiling for a moment. Shuichi was happy to finally be home and able to sleep late in Yuki's--no, make that 'their'--nice soft bed.
He'd been sleeping with Yuki every night for months now. Since moving in, he'd usually start out sleeping with Yuki, but Yuki used to kick him out for fidgeting too much or stealing the covers. Now, Yuki would just yank the covers back, or shove Shuichi to the far side of the bed so the tossing and turning wouldn't bother him--still not exactly sweet and loving, but certainly an improvement.
Shuichi rolled over onto his side and propped his head up with one hand so that he had a better view of his sleeping lover. Yuki was just too cute when he was unconscious. He was sleeping on his stomach, per usual, with one arm curled under his pillow and the other dangling off the side of the bed. The blankets had slipped down to his waist, revealing an enticing stretch of smooth, fair skin. But it was Yuki's hair that Shuichi just couldn't resist. It had dried into a mass of golden spikes and cowlicks that Shuichi was itching to run his hands through.
Just as Shuichi leaned in to touch Yuki, Shuichi's stomach growled loudly and Yuki's eyes sprung open--causing Shuichi to freeze in place as if he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't. Yuki turned slightly, so he could look over his shoulder at Shuichi, and asked suspiciously, "What are you doing?"
Shuichi swiftly put down the hand he suddenly realized he'd still been holding up and said, a shade too brightly, "Nothing." Shuichi could just imagine what Yuki would say if he admitted to nearly petting him.
Yuki snorted skeptically, then suggested, "Then why don't you get up and do something useful."
"But--" Shuichi started to protest, he wasn't going to let Yuki break a couple month streak of not kicking him out without a fight, but he was interrupted by his stomach growling even louder than the first time.
"Lunch," Yuki clarified sitting up in bed and smoothing down his hair with one hand. Shuichi pouted a little because he didn't get to do it himself. Yuki wondered what Shuichi was pouting about then dismissed it as unimportant. "Italian," Yuki added--they hadn't had any good pasta in a while.
"Okay," Shuichi agreed, lunch sounded good to him too. He turned to climb out of his side of the bed, took the covers in one hand to push them off, then paused, blushing a deep crimson. "Uh, Yuki?" Shuichi asked sounding embarrassed.
Yuki, who was putting on the robe he'd just retrieved from a hook behind the bedroom door, turned back to look at Shuichi. "What?" he asked irritably, Shuichi asking for something rarely boded well.
"Could you toss me some underwear?" Shuichi asked sheepishly.
"You didn't mind me seeing you naked this morning," Yuki pointed out as he walked over to the dresser he grudgingly agreed to share with Shuichi not too long ago. Why Yuki was so reluctant to share was a mystery to Shuichi, Yuki'd only been using two of the six drawers. Besides socks and underwear, Yuki left almost all of his clothes on the hangers the laundry sent them back on.
"That was different," Shuichi protested. Nudity in the bath or during sex was one thing, being naked where someone else could see was something else entirely.
Yuki grabbed the first pair of boxers he came to in Shuichi's underwear drawer and held up a pair of yellow shorts with green bunnies on them. Yuki glanced at the shorts, then at Shuichi, then back at the shorts. A mocking smirk on his lips, Yuki tossed the boxers to Shuichi.
"They were on sale," Shuichi said as he caught the shorts. Shuichi pulled on the boxers while carefully keeping under the covers till he was decently clothed.
Yuki started to swear quietly, after reaching into the robe pocket where he normally kept cigarettes and a lighter and coming up empty. Now he remembered. Before they left he'd been almost out of cigarettes. Since they were leaving, he hadn't bothered to restock the apartment.
Muttering angrily to himself, Yuki exited the bedroom looking for a nicotine fix. The train they took was non-smoking and after that he spent most of the day unconscious. It had been a while since Yuki's last cigarette. If it turned out that he had let himself run completely out of his drug of choice, Yuki was going to be extremely pissed with himself.
Shuichi put on a random pair of shorts and a clashing t-shirt and followed Yuki out of the room. His stomach picking just then to remind him of how empty it was, he made a beeline for the kitchen phone, dialed Yuki's favorite Italian restaurant from memory, and placed their usual order. That taken care of, Shuichi hopped up on one of the kitchen stools and watched Yuki's so far fruitless search for cigarettes.
Yuki searched all of the usual places--the kitchen cupboard, the box on the coffee table, his desk drawer--nothing. Returning to the den from his office, Yuki's eyes landed on the wrinkled jacket he'd left on the couch early that morning. Snatching up the jacket and emptying out the pockets onto the coffee table, Yuki came up with keys, a wallet, a lighter, and one pack of cigarettes--one mostly empty and completely crushed pack of cigarettes. Yuki contemplated the bent and broken cigarettes for a moment. Then he tossed them aside, grabbed his keys and wallet off the table, and headed toward the front door.
"Yuki?" Shuichi called, momentarily stalling Yuki's progress.
"What?" Yuki barked, in no mood for a lecture on the evils of smoking.
"Bathrobe," Shuichi smugly pointed out, huge grin on his face. It wasn't often that he corrected Yuki rather than the other way around.
Yuki turned around and went back to the bedroom, muttering something indecipherable under his breath. Seconds later he came back out clad in khakis and a gray turtle neck sweater. Stepping into the loafers he'd discarded earlier that day on his way to the door, this time he got as far as grasping the doorknob before Shuichi stopped him with another, "Yuki?"
"Yes?" Yuki said warningly, not turning around or removing his hand from the knob. He appreciated the save with the bathrobe, but that didn't mean he was in the mood for any of Shuichi's nonsense.
"Lunch is suppose to be here in twenty minutes," Shuichi said.
"I'm just going to the corner store," Yuki answered, not seeing what Shuichi was getting at.
"If the food gets here before you get back, how am I supposed to pay for it?" Shuichi asked.
Yuki actually turned to look over one shoulder at Shuichi at this point, "And why, pray tell, can't you pay for lunch with your own money?" Yuki knew for a fact that Shuichi's income had just exceeded his own--the tour was very successful.
"My wallet didn't fit in my stage costume so I left it in my luggage," Shuichi explained. "I'm broke 'til Hiro brings me my stuff."
Yuki, without saying a word, took his wallet out of his back pocket, took out enough money to cover lunch, tossed the cash on the table, and left to buy his smokes.
Half an hour later, Shuichi had just finished putting the food on actual plates and setting the table--that is kitchen counter/bar. Thinking that Yuki's clam linguini looked pretty good, maybe even better than his own pasta primavera, Shuichi was just about to take a forkful of Yuki's meal--just to test it out and it's not like Yuki would ever have to know, he wouldn't miss one bite--when the front door swung open and banged against the wall adjacent.
A clearly seething Yuki stormed into the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him. He put the couple cartons of cigarettes he'd originally set out to buy down on the coffee table, took a couple calming drags off the one he was smoking, then unfolded and looked down at the newspaper he'd had tucked under one arm.
"Uh... Did something happen?" Shuichi asked nervously.
In response, Yuki simply tossed the newspaper he'd been looking at on the bar next to Shuichi's plate. Shuichi glanced down at the half page picture on the front of the entertainment section and exclaimed, "Aww, Yuki's so cute!" Looking up from the picture to the real life Yuki's pop-eyed incredulous expression, Shuichi asked confusedly, "Yuki's not cute?"
Yuki stood there, blinking at Shuichi--completely at a loss for words.
Shuichi looked back at the picture, trying to puzzle out what the big deal was. The light suddenly dawning, Shuichi exclaimed, "Hey! Someone was in our bedroom taking pictures. That's... that's kind of creepy," he finished with a shudder.