003.
Six came by and went, and as seven fast approached, so did Yuuko with a bottle of booze. "You can go now, and thanks for your work today."
"Right," Kurogane said before packing up what few things needed to be packed and headed to the front door. "See you Monday."
As he gets outside into the crisp autumnal air, he takes in a deep breath before being greeted by a blonde's voice. "Oh, Kuro, there you are." Fai was smiling and seated nearby the entrance, his bag beside him and his hands holding onto a to-go cup. "How was work?"
"Fine," Kurogane said, "How long have you been there?"
"Mm. Only a small while. I just left over there, about twenty minutes ago," Fai says pointing over to a place where he could have gotten the drink.
A small while, he says, Kurogane thinks to himself. Then, the next thing he noticed, "Wait…where's your coat?"
"Mm? Oh, … see I came outside a while ago from somewhere, and set it down…. Then forgot to pick it back up and when I came back, it was already gone. … It's fine, really," Fai said waving off the fact that because of the fact he had no coat on, he was really cold, goose bumps quite visible on his nearly bare arms.
Setting the cup down for a moment, and slinging his bag back onto his shoulders, Fai grabbed his cup tight again between reddened palms, and stood up. Fai grinned at Kurogane. "Well, shall we head towards the bus stop then?" he offered.
"Yeah," Kurogane said.
Fai nodded, before heading the way to the Park n Ride, walking beside the other man. Fai kept a rather subdued gait unlike earlier's race. Probably had something to do with not wearing a coat in the late fall… or perhaps it had something to do with those eyes. Kurogane wanted to ask him about earlier that morning, but something seemed, different, maybe? After the walk, Fai turned to Kurogane, "The 15L or the 6 to head home? Which would you prefer? The 15L will require three busses either way while the 6 will require two but the wait will take longer. With the 15L it'll be about 9:30 by the time we get there, give or take fifteen minutes. With the 6, we'll get there about quarter after 10."
"Don't care," Kurogane responded, letting Fai decide. Fai knew the system, after all.
Fai sat down to wait in front of the 15L's gate, slipping his bag off again, still holding onto his to-go cup. Kurogane settled down too, for the moment, glancing again into those blue eyes. Fai noticed and after a little bit turned to better face Kurogane, "What's up?"
"Your eyes…"
Fai blinked, "What about them?"
"They look like you've been crying… they're all puffy red."
"Ah…! Really?" he said eyes getting a bit wider, and becoming a bit restless, "Oh um, I-I'm sure it's just the weather, y-yknow. Mother Nature can get awful bitey and stingy … and the wind whipping about," Fai said with a weak chuckle. Who was he trying to fool?
Kurogane snorted. "Look you don't have to say if you don't want to; just don't lie about it. I hate being lied to," Kurogane said with an annoyed look.
"Sorry," Fai said with a smile, his face growing soft and apologetic, "The bus should be here in about ten to fifteen minutes."
After a minute or so, Fai heard shuffling before Kurogane dropped his jacket over him.
"Kuro?"
"You need it more right now."
"Um … thank you," Fai said softly, shifting his drink to one hand at a time to put the coat on properly, before clasping the drink in both hands. The coat was much too big, but it was warm.
***
One bus ride later…
Stepping off of the first bus, Fai smiles as he waits for Kurogane. After that, it was a tiny walk to catch the free mall shuttle, to Market Street, and then a seven minute wait before the next bus showed up.
***
Once on the 92, Kurogane sat down first, taking a seat by a window, before Fai sat down beside him. The ride was slow, and Kurogane had already found himself drifting.
"It's alright, Kuro, if you would like to take a power nap. I'll be sure you're awake when we get a lot closer," Fai spoke in a soothing voice.
"Hn," Kurogane said, leaning back slightly, before closing his eyes, his breathing slowing down.
Fai sat up straight and watched ahead of him, only every so often sending a few sideways glances at the hulk sitting right beside him. Nervously, Fai gently, slowly, began to sidle closer before he put just a little of his weight onto leaning into the other. A small surprise as Kurogane's arm shifted, wrapped around a boney hip, pulling him closer. Fai smiled, leaning a little further into the unconscious embrace. Whether either said anything, they both needed that.
The ride was easy, and within fifteen minutes, they were back on Colorado and heading north.
"Kuro… Kuro, rise and shine." Fai gently nudged the other's shoulder, "Time to get up; we're almost there."
Kurogane's brow creased, before his eyes slowly opened, snapping awake with a small jerk. Looking about, he was still on the bus, and beside him Fai was still sitting, but twisting most of his torso in front of him, and wearing a small warm smile on his face. Kurogane glared at him, "What?"
"Well good morning to you too sleepyhead," Fai said in a friendly tone, that smile quirking to something playful and amused.
"It's not morning," Kurogane responded flatly.
"However that doesn't change you are a sleepyhead," Fai said playfully, gently poking at Kurogane's chest with his index finger. "And that we're almost at our stop."
Kurogane swatted lazily at the finger before sitting up straighter. "That was fast."
"You were asleep." Fai moved back so that he wasn't invading Kurogane's personal frontal space bubble, and stretched lightly. "Well, it's after nine… Do you have any plans for dinner?"
"Maybe heat up a frozen dinner," shrugged Kurogane. He was never much for cooking.
"No Thanksgiving leftovers?" Fai asked curiously.
"Nah, never bothered to work up a big deal. It's just me after all."
"Then…why not come over to my place for a little bit? I could… fix you up a plate, if you'd like."
"Why?"
"Well if you really don't want to…"
"No, that's … why do you want me to come over?"
"Hm, well …" Fai said musingly, before making a teasing grin, "when you hold me and whisper sweet nothings, it's hard to refuse you."
"I did nothing of the sorts," Kurogane said bristling up defensively.
"Oh but you did. Well I guess maybe your arm had a mind of its own and it wasn't really your breathing and beating heart I heard when you were taking your nap but the person right behind us having a very vocal body instead." There wasn't anyone behind them. In fact, the only other on the bus right then was the bus driver.
"…moron," Kurogane muttered looking away.
Fai leaned over and smiled at Kurogane, "Most call me fun loving, but I spose if it's you that works too." Then, Fai gently tugged on the rope to let the driver know they wanted to get off at the next stop. "Kuro better get your things ready. It's time to get off."
Fai stood up, replacing his backpack over his back while Kurogane gathered his own things before the bus pulled to a stop. The two disembark before the bus pulled forward and drove off towards Summit Grove. It was dark out and the street lights weren't all working but working well enough. Fai glanced about a little, mentally debating to just cross near there or go to the light most a block away. There were hardly any drivers around as most the people stopped the madness about noon, and dwindled down to regular driving a few hours prior to the time the madness of rush hour would have hit. Now only a few night owls were left and a few others going about their business.
"Wanna cross here or up there?" questioned Fai lightly.
"Whichever."
Fai made a small hum as he checked the traffic for spacing and timing of the vehicles that were still going about. After a few more cars passed, there would be a large break in traffic, aided by the lights also turning red. Fai began to cross the street, Kurogane only a few paces behind, and having not noticed the small patch of black ice on the asphalt, Fai stepped on it and slipped a bit, losing his balance.
"Waah!"
"Whoa!" In that moment, Kurogane caught up, reached out and grabbed the other with his free arm, supporting the blonde from a bad tumble. Fai took a moment to regain his footing and slow his heart. He looked down briefly at what it was that he stumbled on, now seeing the shimmer of the ice in the dim light. Then, remembering they were still in the middle of the road, and even though it was pretty lax, they still needed to finish crossing. Fai tugged lightly on Kurogane's hand to continue crossing, until both were safely on the other side of the street. Reaching the other side, Fai let out a breathy chuckle. "Well. Today sure has been full of its ups and downs… Thanks for catching me."
"Yeah," Kurogane said dismissively.
Fai grinned before the two walked slowly towards their street, walking through the subdivision, with Fai once glancing upwards to gaze briefly at the dimly lit starry sky. City often had that effect on the sky to make the bright lights dotting its existence look dull and washed out. The silence that came with the walk was comfortable and easy, before arriving at Fai's house first. Fai tugged his key out of his pocket before unlocking the door, letting himself in, and shifting his bag off his back and resting it on the couch on the other side of the railing separating the entryway with the upstairs living room. Kurogane followed him in.
Turning around, Fai made a teasing grin, "Ah, did Kuro walk me home? … or were you wanting something more?"
"You're still wearing my coat, moron," Kurogane pointed out.
Fai blinked twice, before raising his arm as if to see it better, staring at the sleeve, "Ah… so I am."
Unzipping it, he slowly removed it before folding it up a little, hugging it before giving it over to its owner. Kurogane took it, putting it under his arm.
"Well, that's that. Is Kuro interested in staying a while and having dinner, or a plate to go, or will you just be heading back home?" asked Fai, and the linger in his voice made it sound like he didn't want Kurogane to leave just yet.
"Are you sure it's fine?"
"Absolutely!" Fai said putting out a bright grin.
"Well, if it's okay, I guess I could stay for a little bit."
"Splendid!" Fai said before sauntering off to the kitchen to pull out leftovers. With his head in the fridge, he quietly muttered something, but Kurogane didn't quite catch what he said. Then Fai spoke up, "Do you have any food concerns or allergies I should know of?"
"Well milk and overly sweet stuff don't really agree with me, but I'm not actually allergic to anything that I know of."
"Right…"
Kurogane looked about the living room where he stood, the kitchen in front of him, separated by a low wall. To his left was a hallway and to his right was a TV setup with an older game console plugged in. Shelves lined the divider between the kitchen and living room and were filled with books that a young child might read like Clifford the Big Red Dog and The Magic Tree House series. They were neat and very well organized. A box of toys took up the corner with a giant stuffed polar bear wearing a green scarf leaning over it as if to guard the box. The TV stand with its assortment of music, movies and games was also orderly and … alphabetized by what they were for. The corner held a comfy looking armchair with a plushed up bean bag chair on its seat. The sofa near the window looked aged but well-tended, with the nearby walls consisting of white and crayons doodles, and the couch directly facing the TV had two cushions on it, Fai's bag and a homemade afghan, a table pulled up close by with a coloring book opened and a pink crayon between the pages. The floor was a shag carpeting only littered on by small traces of dirt, a couple splatters of paint and grape juice, and a knocked over crayon box.
"That's the kiddie corner," informed Fai, setting out food on his marble countertop, "Bathroom's down the hall, first door on the right, if you need to use it. Go ahead, make yourself comfortable. I'll have dinner out and available in a few."
"Right." After that long, he could go. Taking up the man's offer, he placed his coat on the armrest and his things beside its side before walking over to the supposed bathroom. One person must have thought it amusing because a hand-drawn picture of a litter box with a cartoonish cat was tacked onto the door. Inside was about as … tactful. It wasn't a big bathroom, consisting of a tub that stretched along the entire back wall. Nearest was the toilet and then a sink with an under cabinet. It was simple and small, without being claustrophobic. Bright cheerful curtains, soft palsy colors, and the sink barely decorated with a bottle of Baby Detangling Spray, a bar of soap that had a hint of lavender to it and a container of Softsoap that had a sticker on it saying buying this product is supporting some WWF knockoff wildlife support non-profit organization. The animal on the front was an otter. He quickly took care of business, noticing a small plunger, bowl wand and toddler training seat behind the toilet. The guy definitely expected kids over.
Once finished and washed up, Kurogane left, noticing the room across the hall. The door was shut, but on its door was another doodling, this one of that same cartoonish cat chasing what appeared to be a cartoonish computer mouse in that similar style. The room at the end of the hallway had another cartoonish drawing tacked onto its door. It held a different drawing, a tall black cartoonish cat sitting up next to a bed with seven little kittens sprawled asleep on it.
The door was cracked open, and curiosity getting at him, he peeked in. Opening the door more, it revealed the place to be a bedroom with a large king sized bed, shelves containing linens. The bed was a fabric-made mess, piled over with thick comforters, pillows and more blankets, and the room had a dresser on each side of the bed, one with a light, alarm clock and a pink hairbrush and the other a photo frame that was knocked face down. It had a window on the far side. There was a few chairs of the fuzzy fold up variety set up in the room. One was knocked over. Again, the room had some stuffed animals wandering about, along with some other toys in a corner, a doll house and some push cars. Against the wall, he noticed a few folded up cots and a crib. On the headboard, there was a small collection of books. Some comics and manga and a few heavy readers, like the Grimm's fairy tales and A Collection of Campfire Ghost Stories. Walking over, he gently picked up the knocked over photo. Through the cracked glass, he could see a picture of five people. All as blonde as the next. Even the tiny little infant in the picture, who was laughing happily and being adored by a blonde whose face was cradled into her chest, wrapped around the one behind her and a pair of like hands wrapped around the infant, supporting her, a soft smile and closed eyes. The other two might as well be the parents, as they had an elderly but still youthfulness to them, and were hugging the three. A big family group hug. He returned the picture to how it had been before he left and returned the door to its mostly shut positon.
Kurogane walked back, as Fai shut the fridge door. He was wearing that same smile as earlier, and Kurogane wondered if that was the same one he wore around the cul-de-sac children. Not that he really cared, mind you, but he was curious. At the sound of Kurogane's return, Fai turns around and smiles brighter. "Hey Kuro. Food is out. Help yourself. Is there anything you'd like to drink? I have some diet sodas, some juices, water or I could brew up some coffee or tea. Of course, I also have egg nog, milk, almond milk, sweetened lemonade and sugary sodas, but you said milk and sweets aren't really your thing, so…" Fai makes a tiny shrug near the end, "What would you like?"
"Uh…water…would be… just fine." Kurogane felt a little overwhelmed by Fai and his … overhelpfulness.
"Ah… sure." Fai could take a hint with some things, and toned down some of his overexertness, going to his cupboards and pulling a glass down before filling it up with water. Turning around, there was Kurogane, "Here you are."
Kurogane took the glass, "…thanks."
"Mm… So, shall we? Plenty of food to go around. Ah, but you should get the food you want to have warmed up first. They did just come out of the fridge after all."
Kurogane figured that was one of those rhetorical statements, and didn't say anything. He took a drink of the water.
"Well… you can go first."
"It's your food."
"…but I'm the host. And hosts go last. Or snack beforehand. That's the rule."
"Since when?"
"Since ever." Fai grinned, before grabbing one of his plates, and it looked like a finer china than someone who had kids over on a regular basis would keep about, and passed it over. "So you know, there's ham and turkey for meat, mashed potatoes –and gravy for gravy lovers, stuffing, green bean casserole, creamed corn –but you might not like that-, cranberry sauce, rolls –and butter and jam for them if you like, yam bake –and if you want, you can just scrape the marshmallows off and I'd eat them for you if you don't like them-, there's a Jell-O dish –it's not a really sweet one, so maybe- and of course apple and pumpkin pies for afterwards."
"I … think … most of that was self-explanatory."
"It may've been," Fai answered with a grin, "But saying it out loud makes it real."
Kurogane paused for a moment, considering Fai's choice of words; saying it out loud makes it real. It was definitely not normal, he concluded; like not saying something, he didn't have to face the truth, that it wouldn't be so if the words were not spoken. Sounded like a coping strategy and he thought to bring it up later. First, might as well get something to eat.
Kurogane took a little bit of everything to try it, noticing how most of it looked barely touched, if it had been touched at all, while Fai poured himself a glass of egg nog, idly commenting, "I normally would have heated everything up to the right temperature, but I wasn't up for it tonight."
"Any particular reason?" Kurogane asked casually.
"Well," Fai said elongating the word, "it is pretty late for having dinner around here. Usually, we try and have dinner a bit earlier than now."
"Hm."
"What about you? Do you normally eat about now?"
"Sometimes," Kurogane answered placing his plate in Fai's old-fashioned microwave oven.
"Because of the late hours?"
"Yeah. That and I don't like to cook all that much. Maybe do it once or twice a week."
"Do you use a crockpot and make a bunch of meals at once?"
"Does chili count?"
"Chili most certainly could count. Chili's great when it's done well. You can add Fritos or hot dogs in it or macaroni and cheese to change it up."
"Guess we're both pretty hungry if we have food in front of us and are talking about more."
Fai chuckled, a small gurgle echoing quietly, "Hahah … guess so."
Setting his drink down and grabbing a second plate, Fai went over and began to fill it up with food too. After a couple of minutes, both men had food, and relocated themselves to the kiddie corner as the table was covered up. Fai slid his backpack off the couch before sinking into the furniture, his food and drink set down on the table prior to settling in. Kurogane settled for the corner nearest his coat and things, leaving the middle cushion between the two.
Fai quietly gives thanks for the meal, while Kurogane does the same in a different language.
"Japanese, correct?" asks Fai before taking a bit of his potatoes.
"You know Japanese?" Kurogane says with some surprise, eating the meat first.
"Well, the family thought we should be … well-versed. 'Fraid to say, it is one of the subjects I let get rusty, but we find it is a pretty language."
"Who's 'we' ?"
"We?" Fai asked a bit surprised.
"You've been saying we, instead of singular. But there's only you here. Who else is this we you keep referring to?"
"Oh, that… um…" Fai began. He had a fleeting thought to lie, but seeing how swell that worked last time, resigned the idea. He let out a weak shrug, "Force of habit." Which was true but didn't delve into excessive personal details. Which made Kurogane think it might be a touchy subject for the blonde.
"…sorry for bringing it up. You can just say it's none of my business if you don't want to share."
"Well, then…what of yourself? …You kind of remind me of a … of a father."
Kurogane sputtered on his own food, "W-where'd that come from? Do I look like I have children?"
"Well no, but…you're not exactly social, but so good at fixing things, and you help out the children when they bring you their broken toys. Although you complain about my nickname for you, you still put up with me today … and the children know I'm the cul-de-sac Mommy. Seems that you're private and reserved, but easily embarrassed. A hard worker who gets what he wants, a bit rough around the edges, but… kind." Fai takes a small sip from his egg nog, "That last snow storm, you're the one who snow plowed the sidewalks during the snowstorms, probably complaining that it'd be a pain if the owner was too lazy and left their sidewalk buried, or that since you'd already started, might as well just keep doing it."
"W-w…what would you know about that?" Kurogane said looking away obviously a bit red in the face.
"Mm … can't say much. Most of it is just neighborhood children talking. You know how kids are. Plus, it's hard to mistake you when you're one of the biggest guys around here."
Kurogane merely let out a grunt, neither agreement nor disagreement.
Dinner was slow and unhurried as the two ate dinner together, mostly in quiet with some small dialogue exchanged between the two of them, like what they did for work, and favorite things to do when they weren't busy, and each other's homes –to a degree, or the topic of family came up and they began discussing the children nearby instead, before Kurogane finished first, seeing as he'd gotten a smaller portion than the blonde. After dinner, each had a small slice of the pumpkin pie, Fai's heavily topped with whipped cream.
"What do you want me to do with these?" Kurogane asked referring to the plate and silverware in his hands.
"Mm, if you're finished, just rinse it off and stick it in the dishwasher."
Kurogane did so, before noticing the guys clock. He'd guessed maybe the guy had a thing for tooney cats as it was that black cat with the swishing tail for a pendulum, eyes darting back and forth with the seconds –really, Fai had recently said he just loved animals, especially cats. The hands on the clock –and not its paws, showed that it was just past ten at night.
Although neither had work in the morning, Kurogane wasn't comfortable sleeping over with his neighbor, when his house was just across the street. And as Kurogane made to leave, Fai saw Kurogane to the door. As Kurogane was about to leave, Fai bit his lip, before speaking up. "Sorry…about earlier."
"Huh? About what?"
"About your schedule, about lying to you…I'm sorry I lied."
"Wait … you lied to me?!"
Fai flinched, looking away.
"Well?! Did you?"
Fai squirmed, his fingers clenching his pant legs, before his shoulders fell, "….kinda."
Fai didn't dare meet the other's gaze, "My brother and sister were planning to be on that bus. Really, we actually were planning to meet each other near where you work, yknow, at the book store over there."
Kurogane stared at Fai, not sure exactly how to classify how he was feeling about the man at this particular moment, but he knew he was quite upset. Kurogane spoke through gritted teeth. "Why did you do it?"
"The 6 was going to be in … a massive crash. I tried calling them, but it wouldn't connect; I wanted to warn them it wasn't safe, to get on a different bus, but even my texts went unanswered …I waited at the store for them just in case they did somehow get the message but didn't respond, because their phone died or they were late getting out… After…I found out where they sent the injured, and went to see my sister… she was physically protected from those who cared more about sales than human life. But," Fai swallowed tightly, looking towards the ground, "…my sister isn't completely fine."
"You."
Fai looked up, meeting Kurogane's eyes, "I'm really sorry I lied to you, but… I couldn't think of anything better at the time to make sure you didn't get on the same bus without sounding like some weirdo or just crazy. I couldn't protect my brother or sister, but I didn't want anyone else to get hurt either. And…because of the accident, it really wouldn't have made it on time."
He was definitely being sincere there, but some things didn't quite add up. The bus crashed after Fai had told him not to get on it. "How did you know the bus was going to be in an accident?"
"As…stupid as it may seem to someone of ration to guide him, it was because of a dream last night. That… that particular 6 bus got in a huge accident, because it was involved with a mall."
"And you stopped me from getting on that particular bus…for a dream?"
"Hey, it saved your life, didn't it? …And you still got to work on time."
The little details were beginning to settle in, like that disconcerted look earlier, and for a moment, Kurogane wasn't sure if he felt more like slugging the guy hard in the jaw or giving him a great big bear hug. He settled for somewhere between the two. Bundling his hand into a fist, he dropped it heavily on top of Fai's head, instead of a good clocking like he felt more like giving. "That's for lying."
Fai winced, his hand coming up to rub his sore scalp, before Kurogane tugged at his neckline in a tight fist, and he had to stand up on his toes not to get choked by his own collar. He tensed, almost expecting Kurogane to try and hit him again.
Kurogane leaned forward, and gave a small kiss on his forehead, small and brief, "…and that's for trying to keep me safe."
Fai was shocked and looked up at Kurogane with wide eyes, "Kuro?"
"Next time, try and just be honest with me from the get go. I really hate being lied to." Kurogane let go of Fai, before stalking over to his own house with his things.
After a moment, Fai relaxed for a moment, as what just happened and what didn't happen sunk in. He grinned wildly, "I'll do my best, Kuro-cutie…!" he called out loudly, using his hands like a microphone.
Kurogane froze, in astonishment and embarrassment and some defensive rage. He turned around and hollered back, "Don't call me that!" He was glad it was dark, because his face was definitely red. Fai just waved happily.
"I'll see you later, Kuro-pumpkin pie," he called out before retreating into his house.
"…stupid idiotic moron," muttered Kurogane, before continuing home. He unlocked his door before dropping his things near the entryway, and putting his coat away. Locking back up, he got ready for the night, before he dropped onto his bed. Today had been a very long day, and he wanted nothing better than to head to sleep about now. Grabbing one of his mangas from under the bed, he quietly read in the safety of his house, until he could feel sleep claiming him. Moving the volume back to its hiding place under his bed, he shifted slightly, getting comfortable before he fell into a deep sleep.