Brown eyes regarded gold solemnly over the rim of the cards. "I see your two dollars and raise you two more," Akira said seriously, tossing his chips onto the pile.
"I want to play!" Nokoru said petulantly from where Suoh had handcuffed his ankle to his desk leg until he finished his paperwork.
Akira turned puppy eyes on Suoh. "Can't we let him come play, sempai?"
"He can play when he's finished," was the calm reply, as Suoh didn't look up. Having long ago developed immunity from Nokoru's puppy eyes, Akira's didn't affect him any more than Nokoru's did.
"But-" Akira protested.
"He should have done it on time," Suoh replied, still not looking up.
Akira let out a soft huff of air, almost pouting - it really was useless to argue with Suoh sometimes. They played in silence for a couple of minutes, only calling out their hands (Akira was surprisingly good at this game, but he supposed it came from being 20 Masks).
"Have you heard from Azusa-san recently…?" Akira asked tentatively, and then kicked himself for using that particular way to break the silence.
Suoh shook his head, eyes lowered on his hand. "Not since the last time she moved…" he replied, biting his lip, though whether it was at the cards in his hand or at not having heard from Nagisa, Akira wasn't sure.
"Ah - where was it to this time?"
Suoh shrugged. "Somewhere else in America. It didn't mean much to me…my knowledge of American geography is rather weaker than it could be."
Akira nodded. "And…don't you think maybe you should be moving on? Going out on dates?"
Suoh just looked blankly at Akira. "Don't you think that you should be going out on dates?"
Akira's eyes lowered. "Utako only died three years ago."
"And Nagisa only left four years ago. It's not like it's so much more, Akira-san."
Akira gave a wry smile. "I just don't like seeing you lonely," he said, tossing his hand down.
"And you think we like seeing you lonely?" Suoh rebutted, glancing at Nokoru and speaking for him as well. Nokoru looked up long enough to indicate agreement with a nod before he went back to scribbling furiously, clearly trying to get the paperwork done as quickly as possible. "You haven't even gone out drinking with your college friends lately."
Akira shrugged. "They're not really very good at being conscientious of my feelings," he replied, "And anyway, I haven't felt like it." He glanced down at his hand and frowned slightly. "Hey, tell you what. You come out with me and we'll both go drinking. We'll get so drunk we forget our own names."
"I don't drink, Akira," Suoh replied, almost overly solemn. "I can't afford to."
Akira rolled his eyes and tossed his cards on the table, and then waved his right hand slightly. "Don't be ridiculous. You haven't taken even a weekend off in how long? Don't get me wrong, Imonoyama-sama is good company," Akira leaned backwards in his chair and tilted his head backwards to observe Nokoru, who was nearing the bottom of the stack of papers, "But everyone can use a change of pace sometimes."
"I fully agree," Nokoru muttered absently. "But you have to take the weekend off too, Akira."
"But-" they both protested at once.
"That'll leave you with no protection," Suoh finished.
"Call Koji-kun," Nokoru suggested calmly.
"But-" Suoh objected again.
"Oh, give him a break, sempai," Akira scolded. "You know he'll take it seriously as long as it's important."
Suoh sighed slightly. "I suppose."
Akira clapped his hands. "Yay!" he exclaimed. "Go call him?" he pleaded, giving the puppy eyes to Suoh.
"All right, all right," Suoh sighed again, doing his best to look put-upon before he went to his desk and picked up his phone, dialing his brother and asking him to bodyguard Nokoru for a weekend, a task his brother quickly agreed to ("as long as you pay me.")
The next evening found them at a bar that Akira had picked out. It wasn't really upscale, because Akira argued that "that wouldn't be fun. You're missing the point, Suoh." It wasn't horribly divvy, but it wasn't exactly the nicest joint in the world - in Akira's opinion, a great place to get trashed off their asses.
It didn't take them too long to start working on it..
"I've never asked the question, 'if it's mostly made of sugar, than why does it taste so salty?'" Suoh said, continuing their game of "I've Never."
"Suoh," Akira giggled. "That never happened. It's an old urban legend and one of my med school buddies thought it sounded like something I would do. And somehow the story spread."
"It didn't?" Suoh said, looking disappointed.
"No, I'm sorry. Never happened." A pause. "I've never burned spaghetti," Akira said, looking as though he was torn between giggling at the thought and smirking.
Suoh sighed and took a drink. "How'd you know that?" he questioned.
Akira smiled. "Rijichou told me."
"Well, I've never had sex," Suoh rebutted.
Akira pouted, taking a drink. "Suoh, that's a low- wait, you've never had sex? You're a virgin in your late twenties?" His eyes widened slightly. "And you were trying to tease me about being the innocent one - how are you a virgin with all the girls after you?"
Suoh flushed slightly, and wavered. "I'm not exactly a one night stand kind of guy," he said, looking both embarrassed and annoyed, making for one very childishly cute combination. "I don't want to play any more," he declared, draining the rest of his drink. Completely unused to drinking, he was starting to act rather loopy.
"Aww, well it's no wonder that you're so tense," Akira teased. "You should get laid, really, Suoh." Smirk smirk. The expression on Suoh's face was too precious. He wasn't quite as far gone as his friend. "Perhaps you should find someone to...help relieve your stress." It was far too much fun to tease Suoh, he decided. And if Suoh thought he was getting out of it by declaring the game over, he was sorely mistaken. If anything, it made Akira more focused on the point.
"I can't just run around sleeping with people!" Suoh objected, sounding surprisingly coherent considering he was wobbling on his barstool. "Not if it didn't mean anything! I can't do that to people." He considered. "Especially not girls. Rijichou would kill me." Then again, he was speaking very slowly, Akira noted. More than likely, he had to concentrate on every word as he said it.
"Have another!" he said cheerfully, finishing his own off and waving the bartender over, ordering another for each of them. "I'll get the tab." Almost meaningless – it wasn't like either of them was short on money. But the gesture was, despite everything, still considered a polite one.
Suoh mumbled something about picking it up next time, which made Akira raise an eyebrow, wondering if Suoh meant to imply that there would be a next time, or if he was just saying that on general principle. "So –wait- what do you mean, especially not girls?"
"'Specially not girls," Suoh repeated unhelpfully.
"I didn't know you liked guys," Akira said slowly.
Suoh's eyes widened marginally as he appeared to realize what he'd said.
"It's okay," Akira interrupted, before Suoh got going on some sort of drunken babble to try to cover up. "I don't mind." Pause, digest. Finish his second drink.
Smirk. "Perhaps in that case you should find a male friend for…stress relief."
Blinking. "Ijyuin," Suoh said very slowly. "Are you offering?"
Akira slouched slightly, allowing his legs to fall slightly apart. "Maaaaybe. Are you in'erested?"
"Depends…" Suoh said vaguely.
"Are you scared, Suoh?" Akira questioned sweetly. Damned if he wasn't going to get laid tonight…he told his conscience to go take a hike as it screamed that he was taking advantage; Suoh probably needed physical comfort more than he did. Gods, the man couldn't go through life never letting anyone close to him. If anyone was going to try for that intimacy, it might as well be him. After all, he was Suoh's peer. He could take care of himself; he and Suoh were true equals, and Suoh wouldn't have to worry about caring for him. He probably understood Suoh better than anyone else, despite their very different outward personalities; inside there was the same deep caring for people, the same admiration for Nokoru and the need to protect him, the same near-utter selflessness that drove them in their duties.
"I am not scared," Suoh pouted. Takamuras were not afraid of anything, dammit. The bar had just been raised, and now there was an unspoken competition- and he would not back down first.
"Then are you interested?" Akira repeated, not-so-innocently unbuttoning the top button of his own shirt.
"I suppose I could use some…stress relief," Suoh admitted, licking his lips, and deciding to give as good as he was getting, raking his eyes over Akira, slowly, lingering at his crotch.
"I can think of few better ways to pass time," Akira purred lowly, feeling a shiver run up his spine at Suoh's scrutiny. "Better in the company of another, engaging in such a pleasurable activity than sitting home alone, cooking for oneself…" He met Suoh's gaze and tilted his head back slightly, running his hands down his chest to rest lightly on his thighs, spreading his legs ever so slightly more.
The one-upping continued. Akira had to wonder vaguely if someone would back down – or if they were actually going to do what they were threatening to.
"Well, I don't live with my parents," Suoh teased Akira just the slightest about his living situation. "Perhaps we should go to my apartment…" He leaned forward, though he ended up flopping partway, and wrapped his arms around Akira, nuzzling at his neck.
Akira's eyes widened slightly, not having expected that particular move, but he managed to say vaguely focused. "I thought you were living at Rijichou's…" he said, looking vaguely confused, and breaking away from their game for the moment. Though it was hard to think with Suoh's warm breath tickling at his throat.
"Usually," Suoh mumbled, which didn't do anything for the goosebumps that were breaking out under Suoh's breath. "But sometimes we need space…so I've got an apartment…"
Akira didn't have to think twice. "Soundsgoodlet'sgo," he agreed, pushing Suoh away from his neck before he could get any more turned on than he already was. He handed a couple of bills to the bartender with a generous tip and then grabbed Suoh's arm, dragging him out of the bar.
They barely made it a block before Suoh got tired of swatting Akira's hand away from where it was groping his ass and pushed him up against the nearest wall to kiss him.
Akira giggled slightly, dissolving into moans quickly as Suoh's mouth caressed his. Virgin he might have been, but he was guessing that Suoh and Nagisa had done far more kissing than either of them were likely to admit to.
When Suoh's hand wormed its way up the front of his shirt, he decided it was probably way past time to get to his apartment.
When they got there, the door swung shut behind them, locking in the crescendoing moans.
