Hey. So I wasn't going to upload these silly pieces anywhere but then I decided that was more effort than I could stand wasting.
Clenching his fists and taking a deep breath, Kai banged authoritatively on the rich mahogany door in front of him. The wood was actually great quality, with faintly marked indentions and golden gilded corners. It pissed Kai off. Pet stealers didn't deserve pretty doors.
The name plate had said this house belonged to a Ray Kon.
"Coming!", a distinctly deep and accented voice called out. Loud scuffling and a short bang followed, along with a child's giggle. Once again, Kai's eyes found the pink bicycle that lay on the porch and again, he wondered if the neighbors were actually telling the truth. This didn't look like a pet stealer's dwelling, not that Kai had had much exposure to any but if he was shown a set of houses and asked to pick the one that looked most like it might house thieves, this one would be the last he'd pick.
You see, three days ago, Kai's beautiful green-eyed Bengal cat had gone missing. He had filed a complaint, put up posters and enquired in his immediate neighborhood, but had found absolutely nothing. The night before, Granger's wife had called to inform that they had seen the cat trotting around in a house two blocks down. Kai had taken their word for it and decided to go first thing in the morning except an important conference had come up. He was aware it was absurd to show up at a stranger's door at 8:30 in the night, but it was downright wicked to steal someone's cat too!
Footsteps neared the door and Kai chose his most menacing scowl from the dozens or so he stocked up on (he needed a scowl to express agreement/disagreement, anger, discomfort, satisfaction and pretty much everything else) and put it on, bracing himself to rip this thief a new one, child in house or not.
The door opened. The scowl dropped and words stopped existing in Kai's universe.
Or that was how dramatic it felt like on his end. In retrospect, he could only imagine how stupid he must have looked at that moment.
"Hi. How may I help you?" The accent was Chinese, Kai determined, and so were the features. The smile was purely angelic though.
When Kai would go back home, he would cringe at that particular thought, but at the moment it felt very apt.
The man in front of him was very good looking, what with his tousled black man bun (when did Kai develop a thing for man buns? He couldn't tell) and his round golden eyes and his friendly smile and his pointy canines and his button-like nose and his tight black t-shirt and his cute pink hello kitty apron…
Wait, what?
Kai assumed he must have been staring pointedly at that hideous thing for the stranger (who had previously been eyeing him with a knowing smirk) gave a nervous chuckle and ran a hand through his hair, making a few strands fall loose.
"Ah, this is awkward. I have to play kitchen with Rin every night before I actually start making her dinner. Well, why am I telling you this, I…" he trailed off awkwardly, faint red dust rising on his shapely cheekbones. It seemed they were both rapidly losing the ability to speak, the longer they stared at each other.
Clearing his throat meaningfully, Kai tried for a nod. Alright, that was good and simple. Okay. Now, a sentence.
"I was looking for my cat. A two-year-old Bengal. I live about two blocks from down here and she ran away on Tuesday. Have you seen her around or anything?" (In his defence, how could he accuse this man of stealing?!)
Ray's nervous smile dropped and then his eyes lit up again. "Yes! I mean, a Bengal cat did wander into our yard two days ago. She had no collar so I just assumed… oh God, I am so sorry…, uh?"
"Kai. Kai Hiwatari."
"I am so sorry Kai. I should have known that Bengal cats are an expensive breed so she couldn't be a stray. I should have tried looking and I did ask around the local station, but nobody seemed to be taking me seriously and we were getting late for Rin's school. I am so sorry. I didn't mean to keep her, I mean I did mean to keep her but I definitely didn't mean to worry you or keep her away from you. I am sorry."
See?! He knew this guy couldn't be a thief!
"It's okay. I am glad she's safe. Thank you for taking care of her, Mr. Kon."
That got a smirk to crack over the frowning face. "Mr. Kon? Really? Call me Ray and come on in, I will fetch her for you."
That said, the man, Ray, stepped back and gestured for Kai to follow him in. Kai gave another nod and stepped in behind the shorter man, deciding he quite liked the way this t-shirt hugged his back. It was something to look at.
Catching sight of his reflection in the hallway mirror by the coat rack, Kai was happy to see his face wasn't exactly displaying the unnatural giddiness he felt inside. It was set in its usual scowl, very aloof and very cool.
Wait, was it cool or was it rude?
He raised a hand and felt his mouth, then realized what he was doing and stuffed it into his pocket. Granger did keep telling him he looked mean as all hell with that expression. He didn't want to appear as mean to him. If it was possible, he would like to be charming and friendly.
Deciding he would try smiling the next time Ray said something, Kai moved to sit on the white couch (really? How the hell did they keep it this spotless?!) Ray had gestured towards before sashaying out of the doorway. There was no other way to describe his gait and that had Kai snickering for a quarter of a minute.
Just as Kai started to analyze the pictures framed and hanging on the wall his attention was diverted by a childish voice rising to spout rapid Chinese. Rin, was her name wasn't it? Hoping she was Ray's sister (as unlikely as that was), Kai wasn't prepared for the wave of admiration that hit his system when Ray started talking back in his mother tongue. The various syllables rolled off his tongue and almost always ended in a whiny drawl and if it wasn't for the maturity of Ray's voice in itself, the tone in which he spoke Chinese sounded quite a lot like Rin's herself.
A long discussion, and several harsh cries from Rin later, Ray appeared in the doorway with Mestophales cuddled snugly under his arm. The cat took one look at Kai, gave a lazy 'meow' in acknowledgement, and then refused to take further notice of him.
Noticing said behavior, Ray chuckled. "She's a moody one."
Feeling a familiar annoyance overtake him, Kai remembered all the vindictive scratches he had received all because he stroked Mestophales's back a second longer than she wanted it stroked. Groaning, he mumbled, "You have no idea."
Ray chuckled again. "No, I kind of do. My daughter is just as bad. Maybe that's why those two hit it off so well."
Despite his words, Ray's eyes glimmered when he mentioned his daughter. Even as a stab of disappointment hit him, Kai felt his lips quirk up into a smile while the tanned man (did he mention how good that tan was, especially considering Kai's own skin only knew two colors, pale as paper and sunburnt?) moved forward to hand the cat to Kai.
(Then he clocked into the curve on Kai's lips, his own eye-brows shot up and he came to a halt about two paces away from where his guest sat. Unknown to the Russian, Ray was busy marveling over how the smile completely altered the stern face and, just like Kai, would be beating himself over the head for getting too hung up over this stranger just seconds later.)
Ray was staring at him, staring, staring at him.
Feeling suddenly uncomfortable, Kai cleared his throat. Did that smile look weird? He couldn't know. Didn't smile a whole lot, did he?
That brought Ray back to Earth and almost as if they had been pulled right out of a cringy cinematic teenage rom-com the two gave each other sheepish looks. With a clear degree of embarassed haste to his movements, Ray dumped the cat into Kai's waiting arms. Stepping back just as quickly, he stumbled and hit the back of his knee against the side of the center table and hissed at it.
Literally, hissed at it.
Wondering why Ray seemed so flustered all of a sudden, Kai asked, "Are you okay?"
"Perfect, why are you asking?!" Was that just him or was Ray's tone accusatory?
'Because you just hurt yourself. It's basic courtesy?' was what Kai wanted to say but contained himself with a sardonic raise of a brow.
Whatever Ray had to say to that, Kai didn't get to hear because the thud of an object falling caught their attention. Their necks snapped in unison to the little pink-haired girl standing by the threshold of the living room, a wooden decor piece of some sort rolling next to her frilly sock-clad foot. She had probably knocked it down from atop the expensive-looking wooden trestle that stood by the entrance.
Her babyish face was pinched in a frown. "Sorry, baba." She said, and by the way in her pronunciation slurred, Kai decided she didn't have a lot of English. She was clearly Ray's daughter though. She had his eyes and his button nose.
Ray sighed. "It's okay baby. You aren't hurt, are you? Come here."
As the adorable little girl ambled over in her cute yellow frock, the bundle in Kai's lap came alive and jumped down. Mestophales curled around Ray's legs to reach the little girl (she must have been around four). Rin immediately got to petting the feline, and to Kai's immense surprise did not get scratched when she touched her tail.
Both the adults watched in silence for a few seconds as the cat and the kid comforted each other with vaguely loving gestures. Mestophales batted at Rin's hand when she pulled it away and Kai cast a worry glance at Ray, half ready to jump in and grab his crazy beast if Ray decided she needed to be punished for pawing at his daughter, but the man was watching Rin's face, spell-bound with a soft little smile breezing across his own. It made Kai feel all good inside, too.
Clearing his throat, Kai decided he would at least make friends with Mr. Ray Kon if nothing else. "So, you live here with your wife and daughter?", he tried. That was a pretty general question, right? Or was it not? Did it give stalker vibes?
Ray didn't seem to think so (though he was the man who had revealed his after-work schedule to a stranger at his door) and simply responded. "Oh no, it's just me and Rin. My wife passed away a year after she was born, of cancer." Ray jerked his chin to indicate to the wall behind the couch and Kai turned to catch sight of the biggest photo frame in the room.
It pictured a widely smiling Ray sitting on this very same couch (seriously, how did he keep this thing clean?!), an arm thrown around a petite woman snuggled into his side. Her hair color was too loud but looked so shiny Kai would have caved and asked Ray about her hair care routine if he hadn't known better. He supposed she was pretty, all doe eyes and bright smiles. Both the parents had a hand on their little daughter's side each, who sat in between them leaning against her mother's tummy, barely looking to be about eight months old. Rin was laughing a toothless laugh and Kai felt another smile tugging across his face.
"She was beautiful.", Kai complimented, mostly to be nice. The woman had really fine features but that hair was too loud.
"Wasn't she?", Ray smiled.
Feeling like he was intruding on a private moment, Kai realized he was probably overstaying his invitation and Ray was too nice to say so. He had almost stood up when his eyes recognized the color scheme of one very specific picture in the room.
It was definitely from a pride parade, given the background but more specifically it was from a photo booth decorated in pink, purple and blue themes. Both Ray and Mariah were squashed together inside the booth, throwing huge smiles at the camera. In her hand, Mariah held a placard that said 'Bisexual Power Couple' in a wonky script painted a bottle green.
It took Kai a second to realize he had muttered the phrase out loud as his eyes scanned the picture.
His head jerked to Ray, who's eyes were turning from a warm golden to a steely amber as defensive shields went up on across his visage again. "Be pretty hypocritical of you to judge."
Something about the tone in which he said it made Kai's hackles rise. He made it seem as if Kai was some judgemental close-minded homophobe and if there was anyone Kai hated more than his grandfather, it was a bigot. So to be called one, was not something he could take well.
Feeling a thunderous scowl of the 'I don't really like what you just did' type come on, he barked, "I am not judging you! And what the actual fuck do you know about me to imply-?!"
Ray's eyes widened as his thumb punched the air to gesture towards the door, and he cut Kai's words clean off. "You checked me out for a solid minute when we were out there! I know bedroom eyes when I see them, Kai and I probably get them a lot more than you, judging by that attitude!"
After he had done everything he could to be perfectly civil!
First it was the snappish reply to when he simply asked if the other was okay, and now this, out of nowhere. What was with this guy? If people were always this difficult to deal with when you acted nice, Kai wouldn't ever relieve his expressions again.
Feeling himself getting angrier, Kai grabbed Ray's right arm and gave it a hard shake. "Listen to yourself! It's your attitude that needs to be checked, you maniac!"
A much smaller hand fell on top of the one Kai held on to Ray with, making both of them swallow their words. Kai looked down into Rin's huge golden eyes and steadily got angrier with himself for never picking up Chinese as he couldn't understand what the little girl was babbling at him. She kept shaking her head as she said it though, so Kai figured she was asking him to not hurt her father.
Ray's arms shot out and grabbed a hold of Rin, bringing her into his chest. "He's not hitting me, sunshine."
Seriously, why did this guy infuriate and attract him all at the same time?!
Standing up, Kai said "I will be leaving now. Thanks for looking after her.", in as quipped a voice as he possibly could.
Ray just nodded, without looking up. Rin though extracted herself from her father's arms. "You take Spotty?" She looked up at Kai while pointing remorsefully at the cat (who was still curling around the girl's feet like it was she who had raised her over the years). Feeling himself slip and lose his hold facing by her innocent and wordless plea, Kai sighed and knelt down to her level.
"How about we make a deal? You can come over to play with her every weekend. If your baba allows you, of course."
Hopeful eyes turned to her father, Rin sang out a 'pleaseeee' while Ray stared at him in astonishment, almost as if unable to believe Kai would offer such a thing. His mouth fell shut and his eyelids lowered as he mouthed a sheepish 'sorry' at Kai. The Russian simply shrugged, wondering how much longer he had till Ray blew his fuse again.
Ray nodded his agreement at his daughter. Overjoyed, tiny arms flew out and wrapped around Kai's neck in silent gratitude. Allowing himself the soft sense of pleasure that flooded him with that small gesture, Kai hugged her back, ruffled her hair and stood up again.
A hand shot out to grab his, bigger this time, and stronger in its grip.
"Rin how about you take Spotty and give her one last treat from the ones we bought for her yesterday? As a goodbye present.", Ray said to Rin, never once relinquishing his hold on the paler hand. Kai on the other hand, resisted the urge to twist his palm upwards and grip Ray's. Properly.
As soon as Rin was out of the door, her father stood up. He looked as agitated as Kai felt like he didn't quite know what he wanted to say himself. "Stay for dinner!", he finally blurted out.
Kai raised a brow as his heart picked up speed.
Ray's eyes grew skittish as he bit into his smile. "Sorry, but that only happened because I can't seem to stop worrying about what everybody is thinking of my sexuality. Being a single dad and all that, it's important to keep a clean head and this area has some pretty judgemental uppitty arseholes living here. I promise not to be a defensive jerk if you stay."
Well, he couldn't deny that was true. An older couple a house next to his had tried to give him trouble when he first brought a guy home. He wanted to make a disgusted face in agreement, but he was still sore about being taken for one of those arseholes. As coolly as he could, he muttered, "That could work as an attractive incentive. In itself, it's not a good enough reason." He chose to not respond to the first part of Ray's statement. Didn't want to give him too much leeway to make mistakes like those again, now that they were talking about dinner and all that.
Kai's stomach gave violent turns.
A smirk made its way on to Ray's face as he registered the slight hints of embarassment had returned to Kai's eyes. "Well then, how about this?" He took a step closer to Kai and the Russian did flip his hand around to be gripping on to Ray's more fully. "We make this little dinner a first of many from here on, and specifically a few without Rin and Spotty." Another step closer and Kai could see the faint mole right underneath the overhang of Ray's lower lip. "After all, I quite liked having you check me out."
Feeling a grin tugging on the corner of his mouth, Kai decided he would deal with the infuriating, defensive parts of Mr. Ray Kon without complaint if he just kept holding on to his hand like that.
If indeed I need be flamed, go ahead and do it.