June 17, 2011

"Dude, what the hell was that?"

Yosuke scowled, laying his head down on crossed arms while he turned towards the lamp. It was battery powered, but flickered almost like a real lantern might. Yosuke stared at it intensely while he tried to block out the disappointment in Souji's voice.

"Whatever, man, he's gone. Let's take advantage of that and get some real rest!" His tone was light, which only made Souji's frown deepen. Yosuke rolled his eyes. "…Oh, Christ, next thing you know you'll be telling me you're 'like that' too-"

"And what if I was?" Souji interrupted, eyebrow raised in quiet challenge. Yosuke let out a bark of laughter, shooting his friend a look that said something along the lines of 'yeah fucking right'. Souji's face colored out of embarrassment and frustration while he fixed Yosuke with a glare and restated his question more firmly, "C'mon, what if I was? Would you be shaming me out of the tent too?"

"It wasn't my fault that he-!" Souji silenced him with a look, prompting the brunette to flop on his back with a ragged sigh, "How could you ask me something like that, man? You know the answer is no."

"Why?"

"What the hell do you mean 'why'?"

"Why Kanji and not me? If it's his confusion you have such a problem with, why the hell-"

Yosuke groaned and rolled onto his stomach, burying his face in his pillow. Souji stopped speaking and rested his chin on his knuckles patiently. He'd known Yosuke long enough to sense when he was gathering his thoughts.

Yosuke must've had a lot of thoughts to gather, because he didn't speak up for a long time, laying so silently that Souji might've thought the boy had gone to sleep…but he knew better and his patience paid off in the end. Yosuke shifted onto his side, supporting his head on his palm while he tried to keep himself from getting caught in Souji's penetrating gray stare.

"It's not that."

Souji was hoping for more than three words, but at least it was Isomething/I, "What's not what? Try being more direct for a change, you could be talking about air fresheners for all I know." Yosuke scoffed, rolling restlessly onto his back.

"All the pine is going to your head," he shot back, though the playfulness that usually colored his words was noticeably absent, "And what I mean is…I didn't…I mean, I wasn't teasing him because of that, y'know? I mean, it's weird and all, but it's not like a deal breaker. I was just pissed off because he…and you…" Yosuke growled in frustration with his own inarticulateness, raking his hands through his hair. Souji's frown changed from quiet disapproval to tentative curiosity.

"Him and me what?" he asked, his quiet voice cutting through the crickets with surprising effectiveness.

"You said he could stay," Yosuke mumbled, eyes cast downward as he twisted the plain silver band around his index finger nervously.

"So?"

"'So'? So you knew I didn't want him in here."

"Look, just because you have a problem with him doesn't mean I have to agree with-"

"Shut up, that wasn't why!" Yosuke seethed, lips pursed with irritation while his face flushed deeply, "I just…when I found out it was going to be just us in here I was, I dunno…I thought it would be kind of cool."

"What, having more room to sleep?" Souji was smiling, trying to relax his friend a little, all his initial frustrations forgotten. Yosuke rolled his eyes and threw back a longsuffering sigh, but Souji could see the corners of his mouth twitch with amusement.

"No," he clarified, crossing his arms, "I've just…don't think this is lame or anything, but I've never actually had a sleepover before, so I…" Yosuke winced, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger, "Oh fuck, I sound like I'm ten years old."

Souji was grinning, but not with derisiveness or condescension, "Oh, get off it, does it look like I'm about to put you in a time out or something?"

"Ha ha, very funny," Yosuke glared, even though the smile he'd been so diligently trying to suppress now broke past his defenses, "But do you get what I'm saying? I thought we could, I dunno, stay up all night talking about stuff…" Yosuke's voice got smaller and smaller while he spoke until it eventually trailed off into silence. But when Souji's grin softened to a warm smile, the brunette couldn't help but return it.

"Wanna know something?"

"Sure, as long as it doesn't involve roaches."

"I've never had a sleepover before either."

Yosuke laughed in the same dismissive way that he had when Souji asked him that ridiculous 'What if I was gay' question. More like the entire male teenage population of Inaba wished Souji Seta was gay. The guy was just too cool, too popular, too interesting. He wasn't awkward around people like Yosuke was, he didn't have an entire mall tied to his waist to drag him down, and he was terrible at lying to make Yosuke feel better. It was obvious that was all this was -- Souji had to be rolling in sleepovers. One every weekend. One every night. If the government went mad and proclaimed slumber parties the new national currency, Souji would be the one everyone went to for a loan. He was about to tell him so, too, when his partner cut him off.

"Don't believe me, do you? Let me guess, you think I'm Mr. Cool wherever I go, right?"

"Not if you call yourself Mr. Cool…"

"You do, don't you?"

"Well can you blame me?" Yosuke asked, the corners of his mouth tightening, "The instant you move to Inaba, no one can shut up about you, you have tons of friends, and you act like none of it surprises you…you can't possibly expect me to believe that someone gets that confident overnight."

"Who said I was confident?"

"…Dude, c'mon."

"Okay, fine, but it's not like I'm facing everyone alone."

Yosuke furrowed his brow at that statement, staring at Souji curiously. Souji just stared back, an easy smile playing across his lips. "What, you mean Izanagi or something…?"

"No," Souji said simply, grabbing one of Kanji's abandoned animal crackers and popping it into his mouth, speaking around it with an unattractive munch munch, "I mean you."

Yosuke's face went blank, staring at his friend open mouthed. Souji only laughed.

"Catching flies?" Yosuke's mouth snapped shut with a scowl.

"What do you mean, 'me'?"

"What do you think I mean?" Souji asked innocently, popping another cracker into his mouth, "I've been transferred a lot, Yosuke. It got so bad I made up a set of rules…'don't get involved, because it's not going to last'. You made me want to break my own rule, man." He smirked playfully, tossing a penguin shaped cracker at Yosuke's mouth, which had once again fallen open. "I'm not coming onto you, if you're worried."

"It's not that," Yosuke sighed, tossing the cracker back at his best friend with a huff, "I just…I didn't think we were the same, like that. I sort of always thought-"

Souji cut him off, his voice friendly and genuine, "What did you expect? We're equals."

"Huh? I-I mean, yeah, but that doesn't mean…," Yosuke trailed off, but the silence that followed was hardly uncomfortable. The two friends grinned broadly at each other, a few giddy laughs escaping despite their best efforts.

"Are you guys awake!?" Chie's voice hissed from outside the tent, cutting through the embarrassing moment of Male Bonding like a sharp, feminine knife.

"Huh!? Oh, you've got to be kidding me…," Yosuke groaned, burying his face in his hands to hide his blush. Souji only snorted in a decidedly undignified, unleaderly way -- the sort of laugh only Yosuke got the privilege of seeing. That made the brunette smile, despite the intrusion.

"Guess the whole manly sleepover thing is out he window, huh?" Yosuke whispered, his smirk edged with disappointment.

"Looks like it," Souji whispered back, hoisting himself up from his sitting position before pausing briefly and looking down at his best friend, "How's next Saturday sound?"

Yosuke didn't say anything, color attacking his cheeks while Chie and Yukiko panicked over the rapid approach of their tipsy homeroom teacher. The urgency in their voices made Souji not wait for an answer from Yosuke, unzipping the tent and pulling the girls inside without as second thought. As the night progressed in it's tense, awkward, uncomfortable way, Souji's question remained unanswered but had been nowhere near forgotten.

The light was out, their duffels stacked artfully into a makeshift wall, and Yosuke was having a hell of a time searching through his pack without toppling their teetering structure. Finally pulling out a small notebook and a golf pencil, he scribbled out a hasty message and shoved it into the hands of his dozing partner.

Souji awoke from his thin dream with a start, looking down dazedly at he crumpled note in his hands.

saturday's awesome but you gotta help me out w/restocking or I'll be working until 10

Souji stole the pencil from his friend, writing a reply in noticeably less hurried scrawl.

Sounds good. But what's with the notes?

stealth!!!! and cool

You're dumb sometimes.

whatever, you are too. now move. the topsicles are going to your ass and I've got no room to breathe

Souji snorted again, which only made Yosuke start to giggle from behind his clasped hand. By some miracle, Chie and Yukiko didn't hear a thing.