"Tio, hold up," he turned as he went to push open the door to the bar, turning to see Kin jogging his way, raising a hand in a wave and looking a little red in the face as if he'd run further than just across the street. He seemed a little nervous but Tio was sure that was his imagination, hands in his back pockets and smile a little crooked the way it always was, "just wanted to catch you before work."

"You're working too? I thought you had tonight off?"
"Yeah, I'm meant to but Mizuki texted me because it's really busy, I just wanted to ask you something before we got too busy to talk or I forgot or something." Tio nodded then, smiling a little nervously, wondering what he wanted and Kin staring at him slightly too long before he realised it was his turn to ask and he laughed nervously. "I'm having a couple of guys round mine on Tuesday, gunna play some games, get pizza or something, have a few drinks, um, so do you wanna come?"

"Oh," he was surprised, that was obvious, blinking because his secretive method of asking had made Tio half afraid he was going to invite him on a date or something and prove that he really did like him, not that there was any doubt in his mind of that. But he was relieved it was something like this, because he and Kin had been doing okay as friends, and sure it was a little awkward sometimes but it was nice to spend time with somebody new, nodding and smiling with a warmer expression. "Yeah sure, who else is going?"

"Okay cool," he seemed a little too pleased, rocking on his heels, but there was something sweet about seeing him flustered, freckled face in a genuine grin and glancing at his feet for a second to hide his pink flushed cheeks. "Just Kouhaku and Yuu so far, I was gunna invite more but my place is tiny, so."

"Alright, sounds like fun, but we better get to work before Mizuki gets overwhelmed."

"Yeah, of course, after you," Tio just raised an eyebrow at that, not mentioning that he was right by the door so of course he'd go inside first, just glad being in front meant he could hide his smile because he felt a bit amused by the whole thing, by the schoolgirl nature of how this seemed to be going, Kin's obvious feelings really incredibly flattering.


But they had work and conversation died the second they got inside and met Mizuki's expression, just screaming silently for help and only stopping to ditch their bags messily in the stock room before darting behind the bar to start the shift.

"Sorry for your wait, what can I get you ladies?"

They worked so well together that sometimes it unnerved Tio, who'd only ever experienced that with Mizuki before and after years of working together and being friends, it was odd how they never bumped into each other or needed the same bottle at the same time. It was like Kin memorised the orders he'd gotten, handing him the vodka the second he reached for it and moving away again to fill shot glasses with Jägermeister as Mizuki, in a moment of calm, filled glasses with energy drink, setting them up for him.

They were a well-oiled machine and so efficient that the crowd that would have taken Mizuki a good half hour to clear by himself were gone in less than half of that despite the complicated cocktail orders and people ordering drinks for friends in one go. Mizuki had barely greeted them, just offering a vague, appreciative pat on the back or shoulder as he slipped by them to get what he needed, occasionally giving Kin a tip, 'add a lemon slice,' 'buy five get one free on Jaeger-bombs'.

He didn't manage to speak to Tio until at least an hour later, having sent Kin to slice and bring through more lemon and lime wedges for garnishing or shoving into the necks of beer bottles, the two of them left out front dealing with the occasional order and cleaning up any mess they'd left. Tio was finishing up an order of grandfather cocktails for a tall woman with hair cropped close to her head, thanking her for the generous tip as she smiled and left, when Mizuki finally spoke to him, scrubbing at a sticky spill on the countertop.

"Did you two arrive together?"
"Hm? Oh, no, he just caught me outside, wanted to ask me something." He didn't say what and after a couple of minutes Mizuki realised he wasn't going to, bumping him with his hip and raising an expectant eyebrow, aware he was being evasive on purpose and very curious as to why. "He's having people at his on Tuesday, invited me."
"Oh yeah? What's he doing?"

His nosiness was obvious, hiding it badly under fake interest, as if they were distant enough that they'd be forced to make small talk to avoid awkwardness, just rolling his eyes and flicking a lemon pip at him playfully. "Play games, pizza, beer, you know, 'guys night'."

"Hm, sounds fun. I assume you're going?"

"Yeah I-" He paused then as Kin's ridiculous crop of floppy hair arrived back in the bar, distracting him as he realised he had one hand clamped over his eye and his hand also seemed to be bleeding, Mizuki just gesturing for him to go see what on earth he'd done.


"How on earth, did you manage that?"
"I don't know, I was just slicing it, then my hand slipped, juice went into my eye and I sliced myself open," he was frowning, cheeks pink with embarrassment as he lay back on the tattoo bench, Tio carefully pouring water into his eye to clear it, pressing a towel to the side of his face to catch the droplets.

"You're pretty clumsy, I didn't think you were the type."
"Guess you don't know me well enough," his voice was teasing and Tio knew he couldn't see his uncertain expression as he figured he was done washing out his eye, leaning in a little closer to check it, sclera a little red but otherwise okay, dabbing the skin around it dry carefully and only aware how close to him he was when he spoke and breath washed over his neck. "Your eyes are the exact same colour as mine."
He moved back a little faster than he'd meant to, because he hadn't intended to let him know anything was weird or that he felt odd being so close to him, feeling the warmth of his skin radiating onto his own. "Cool coincidence, huh? So how's it feel?"

"Better now, really stung though."

"Not surprised," he moved back then, taking him in and looking at his cheek in confusion, lifting the towel to dab at his neck where it was still wet and examining the white material which was now streaked with a brown colour. "Not to sound judgemental or anything, but are you wearing makeup?"

He looked alarmed then, hand coming up to cover his cheek where Tio could now clearly see a difference in both colour and smoothness of the skin where the water had trickled, covered fast by his palm and averting his eyes politely as he saw the discoloured, mottled skin there. Visible cheek a little pink as he lowered his head and spoke, voice quiet and worried, "um, yeah… I, er, have like, acne scars, they're pretty bad."

"Ah, makes sense then, did you bring it with you?" He nodded and Tio made a point not to stare, turning to put the towel onto the surface beside the sink and worrying his lip because now he'd made him self-conscious and seen something he shouldn't have. "Good, you can just put more on before you come back out front."
"Yeah," he still sounded stilted, fiddling with his fringe and watching Tio reach down the first aid box and turn back to him. "I, I know it's kinda weird, like for a guy and stuff, I jus-"
"Nope, not weird. You know, once somebody told me I had really hairy arms so I shaved them for years, we all have our things." He didn't let him complain, just taking his hand to help him up and watching him blink in surprise, noticing suddenly there was something wet on his hand and he frowned, looking down to see blood beginning to dry on his palm and remembering he still needed to attend to his other injury. "Alright, let me see your hand. Honestly, I don't think I should let you out of my sight anymore, it's far too dangerous."

"Guess I'll just stick to your side then," his tone was definitely teasing and it reminded Tio of something, thinking of when a line like that would have been followed by a tanned arm around his waist, low down, pulling him into a warm body and kissing him.

He just pretended to not be unnerved by the places his brain always went, smile faltering a little but flicking open the first aid box as it did, expression already steady and amused as he turned back with his handful of cotton balls, because that past was over now and he knew it, and this wasn't Mizuki it was Kin and he was bleeding everywhere.

"Creep," Kin laughed at that, a deep, belly laugh, and this time Tio's smile was as real and as vivid as the blood on the bandages.


So Tuesday came and he went to Kin's and had to squish up next to him on the sofa and get jabbed by his knees when he crossed his legs and deal with his hand flopping over the backrest horribly near to his head. He ate pizza and played Mario kart and got yelled at for winning every time he played even though he knew Kin was letting him win. He called him out on it after his fourth beer when he was starting to get relaxed and didn't even object to Kin all but putting his feet in his lap when he moved positions again on his pitifully tiny couch.

Then they put on a crappy film and they were demoted to the floor to keep things fair, and they sat there and mocked everything about the terrible acting and CGI and after a little while muted it altogether and improvised their own dialogue and Yuu laughed so hard beer came out of his nose. Kouhaku got too drunk and nearly threw up and they all mocked him relentlessly as he shoved his middle finger up at them and tried to remain upright even as he swayed and the night was announced as officially over.

Tio and Yuu accepted leftover pizza in plastic tubs and Kouhaku was picked up off the floor and carried away and it was just Tio left to say goodbye, finishing his beer off and lingering in the doorway, watching Kin clean up their mess and heading out to dump the pile of glass into the trash chute, clanging all the way down.

"Well that was eventful."
"Guess I should have warned you about them, Kouhaku can't handle his drink and Yuu is…"

"A handful."
"Mm, that works," he grinned, a little tipsy, stood there in an unfamiliar hallway at what had to be one am if not later, lingering on one side of the trash chute with Kin on the other, cheeks flushed with drink and hair having well and truly lost any semblance of style. "But this was fun, it's been a while since I hung out with anyone."
"We should do it again sometime," he nodded then, not registering that 'we' could have two meanings, them as a group of four, or just the two of them, figuring that either would probably be okay as long as he didn't get too drunk and do anything stupid like accept his advances. "Are you at work tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I'm in all day doing piercings then working the bar at night too, I'm gunna regret drinking," Kin laughed then, that deep tone that made Tio smile every time he heard it regardless of whether he actually wanted to or not, pausing a second later and smile faltering for a moment, biting at his bottom lip thoughtfully.

"I forgot you did piercings, I kinda want my septum done."
"Oh yeah? You should come by, employee discounts pretty good. I think you'd suit it too."
"Alright, I might do then. You want another beer for the way home?"

He debated this for a second, because sure he was a bit tipsy but he wasn't quite as drunk as he could get and he knew another beer wouldn't really hurt him, just pausing then nodding and removing himself from the wall, catching a sudden whiff of trash and grimacing. His fingers lingered on his for slightly too long as he handed the bottle over, icy cold and straight from the fridge, standing too close as he said goodbye and joked about him needing help walking home, sound of his laugh, softer now with the late night air, following him down the stairs he took two at a time.


"Your two pm cancelled, so you can tell me everything about last night."

"You look like a girl out of a crappy film," he just batted his eyelashes then, sticking his lips out in a ridiculous pout and pretending to twirl a lock of hair he didn't have, utterly ridiculous and not realising it was the daft leaning forward, eager for gossip pose that had made him say it in the first place. "And nothing happened."
"Nothing? So you went to his and absolutely nothing happened? You just sat there in silence then left?"
"For a start there were other people there, and for a second if you don't stop being mean I won't tell you."

"So demanding," but this time he was joking, ridiculous tone escaping his voice and retaining the same pose even as his expression neutralised and he took a sip of his drink, hopefully non-alcoholic at this time in the day though knowing Mizuki probably not. "Nah but seriously, did you have fun?"
"Yeah it was good, I've never really hung out with Kouhaku or Yuu before, they're really cool actually but Kouhaku got way too drunk, Yuu had to carry him home." Anything to distract him from what he actually wanted to ask, to put him off his weird gossip train that he knew probably wouldn't end particularly well for him, annoyed when he brushed him off easily.
"Yeah, that happens. So what else? What did you guys do?"
"Nothing exciting, got pizza, watched a crappy movie, had a few beers. Oh, but we played Mario Kart and Kin totally kept letting me win."
"Oh really?" Mizuki's voice was that annoyingly knowing tone again, as if that was some strange slang for something debauched instead of being exactly what it said, "How interesting."
"I called him out on it and then he won every game, to be honest I think I'm going to regret saying anything," he just ignored Mizuki's words, knowing it was better than responding and just getting irritated again, even if he was never that annoyed, in fact he liked this back and forth bantering between them, it was nice, safe, it made him feel happy that they were the way they used to be again. "But no I had a really good time, we're going to do it again, maybe at my place so we can invite a few more people. Oh, but his place is really tiny right and he has this teeny sofa and at one point he basically had his feet on me and his socks were all holey and it was so gross."

Mizuki grinned at that, Tio too busy pretending to cringe at the memory to notice his eyes flicker to the door, voice floating in along with the topic of their conversation, a little sheepish and a lot amused as Tio looked up and of course it would be Kin, "guess I'm buying new socks after this, huh?"

"I- Well it wasn't really gross," he tried to correct himself immediately, flustered as Mizuki snorted unattractively from next to him and Kin raised his eyebrows, seemingly enjoying his alarm that he'd heard him being rude.

He waved off his concern though, grinning and yawning behind one hand, "nah it's cool, they're all like that so it is kinda overdue that I get new ones

"Well it sounds like you both had fun anyway," Mizuki's gaze turned to Tio then, leaning in to examine his face as he moved back in alarm, trying to look displeased and not quite succeeding. "In fact you look a little hungover."
"I am no such thing," he frowned then, because to his knowledge he looked nothing of the sort, having showered that morning and ensured he'd been able to pass off his mild headache without customers being aware he'd been drinking the night before. Kin was shooting him a disbelieving look then and he rolled his eyes before admitting the truth, "Okay maybe a tiny bit."

Mizuki laughed then, clapping him on the back before excusing himself as somebody walked into the bar, smiling at her and waving a greeting, both heading into the back room to presumably look at the sketches in the book Mizuki tucked under his arm.

Then he was gone and Kin had leaned onto the bar, smiling lazily and his hair staying in place for once, presumably recently styled and smelling recently showered, not that he should be noticing that or trying to work out why he smelled like the sea. "On a scale of one to ten, how much do you regret drinking last night?"

"Hm, like a four?"
He inclined his heed good naturedly, grin getting a little wicked and eyes glinting where they focused on him, rubbing one hand over the dark bag under his eye, looking tired, "Not too bad, just means I'll have to get you drunker next time."
"That's a little creepy," he knew that wasn't how he meant it, but he still wanted to tease him about it, keeping his expression serious as if he was honestly unnerved by a comment he'd make to any of his friends with no double meaning whatsoever, tilting his head to the side as Kin's cheeks flushed.

"True, sorry. So, are you free?"
"Free… for what?" He felt that horrible nervousness creep through him again because he'd been asked that before by somebody on the other side of the bar and it usually had connotations he'd rather not deal with at work. He could feel his palms getting sweaty because yes he was free in the sense those creepy, often lecherous customers meant, but he didn't think Kin was the kind of person to be so straightforward. But then maybe the fact Kin apparently liked him was skewing his judgement, making him think he was asking something suspicious when really he just didn't want to distract him with conversation while he was working.

"Wow you really were drunk, huh?" He'd leaned forwards onto the bar now, smiling at him warmly and perhaps a little too close to him for it to be anything but vaguely disconcerting, eyes tracing across his face somewhat ridiculously thoroughly. "I want my septum pierced, remember?"

"Oh crap yeah of course, you told me after the others had gone. But yeah sure, my double labia piercing cancelled on me."
"Your- Your what?"

"Oh, it's a vagina thing," he explained rather flippantly, having lost his own embarrassment about such things remarkably early into learning to be a piercer, knowing he had to respond to demand and learn how to do intimate piercings like that, just biting the bullet to bring in more customers.

"Right, of course. No actually wait, why would anybody-"
"Want their genitals pierced? I have no idea but it's worryingly popular lately, with guys too. Quite horrifying sometimes."
He jumped a little then, having been too busy grimacing and recalling unpleasant situations in which he regretted agreeing to be a piercer in the first place, Mizuki's voice speaking suddenly from beside him, having somehow snuck past. He was crouching to pick up a sheet of paper from the floor, presumably having slipped out of his sketchbook, grinning a little wickedly, "remember that guy who stunk so bad you had to refuse him?" Mizuki looked like the cat that got the cream and Kin looked remarkably queasy, regarding Tio's disgusted expression with more concern that amusement.

"Don't remind me, I nearly puked on him, which would only have improved things. But anyway, you ready now?"

"If you are."
"I always am," he almost anticipated Mizuki's snarky remark, hitting him across the back of the head when he quietly muttered, 'oh I bet you are,' just smiling encouraging at Kin and leading him back into the small piercing room next to the tattoo studio.


Kin took a seat on the couch without prompt, watching Tio as he bustled around getting things ready, washing his hands and putting on gloves, setting out a metal tray with everything he'd need, explaining they only carried plain silver rings and Kin saying that was all he wanted anyway.

He ran through the boring things he had to, healing time and care routines and things like that, Kin listening properly unlike most customers he had, nodding and saying he'd already looked most of it up. "Perfect customer then, most people come in with no idea it might take weeks to heal or that even if I do it perfectly it might still get infected or reject, nice to see you've done your research. Plus you've had piercings before, right?"
"Just in my ears, but yeah, got seven."
"Eight, technically, industrial counts as two. Okay so you should be good then, and this isn't a cartilage piercing so you should be okay pain wise, it'll make your eyes water though, probably a lot." He was cleaning his nose as he spoke, pausing for a second and remembering something. "Do you wanna try out a fake ring first to see if you like it?"
"Nah, you said it'll look good and I trust your opinion."
"I'll hold you to that, if you hate it afterwards you cannot blame me."
"Wouldn't dream of it." The way he said everything was laced with such blind trust it always put Tio off a little, pausing to wipe the inside of his nose clean again before smiling and announcing he was going to do it, picking up his supplies in gloved hands and pretending it was just any other nose.


He was good as gold during it, not doing more than crinkling his eyes when the needle slid through, inhaling sharply as he threaded the ring through and swearing under his breath, Tio smiling a little sadistically as he made a small whimpering noise as the ring was finally through and he just had to turn it to the right position.

"Okay, all done just let me clean this blood off and you can take a look," he leaned in close again to carefully dab off the couple small spots of blood but this time he was aware of Kin looking at him and he felt a little self-conscious. He moved back then, about to grab the mirror but hesitating, observing his face, the earnest, open expression, the trust he could see there that was utterly illogical, the slight wetness of his eyes where they'd watered.

It was too quiet when Kin spoke, and he'd been staring for too long, his voice low and soft, "what?"

"I-" His voice hesitated and quivered uncertainly and he had to clear his throat loudly, turning to grab the mirror and handing it over, smile too wide and unconvincing even to himself, trying to break the weird atmosphere he'd created, "it looks good, suits you."

He pretended to be clearing up, ditching the used needle and other supplies into their corresponding bins, returning to Kin's side with the intention of taking the mirror back, but something in his demeanour must have bothered him because he reached out and caught his hand in his own, frowning at him.

"Are you okay? You're ac-"

He didn't get to hear what he was acting, because the scrunching up of his face had made his fresh piercing bleed again and he must have felt the wetness because his words faltered even as Tio spoke over him, grabbing the glorified kitchen towel he'd used before and balling it up.

"Your nose is bleeding, hold still," he was just concerned with clearing him up, lecturing vaguely about how he had to be careful or it would never heal, holding his chin to tilt his head back a little and using the very corner of the tissue to dab at the place where the piercing went through his skin. He frowned as he retreated with the now blood spotted ball, about to turn round to get another for him just in case it started again, when he'd grabbed his hand suddenly, turning back to face him in surprise and not even able to breathe before he'd moved forwards and kissed him.

He didn't think he'd had enough time to even shut his eyes but then maybe he had because when he broke away only a second later he was staring at the ground, gaze meeting his identical blues a moment later and lips parted in confusion because that had come out of nowhere and sure they'd had some weird moments lately but both had been ignoring them and he'd been happy with them doing that.

It was Kin who broke the silence and he was so glad because his throat felt clogged and he wasn't sure he'd be able to think of anything to say, watching him rub the back of his neck self-consciously, "sorry. You just, you look cute when you're flustered."

Like that the mood was broken, because he looked like he genuinely felt bad, cheeks very pink now and contrasting his freckles, pushing his dumb hair off his forehead only for it to flop back, chewing his lip as Tio sighed.

"Kin- I," he didn't know what he wanted to say, that he was sorry, that he kinda wanted to kiss him again but then that he knew that was stupid and selfish and that was more a passing thought of a lonely man than something he really knew he wanted. "Look, um, I- I think we should just be friends."

"Yeah of course, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have even done that," he was lying, he wasn't sorry and they both knew it, he didn't want to be just friends and he could see how much that must hurt, to be told that the person you liked wasn't interested in you like that, to be crushed so easily.

"Just at first, I think we should be friends, before, before anything else might happen."

His eyebrows had crinkled and he looked confused, understanding this was Tio's way of saying that he couldn't do this right now but that maybe one day he'd be able to, that he'd been relinquished to just friends but that it might not always stay that way. Managing a smile, "yeah, that makes sense. And you were right, it looks really good."

"Glad you like it," there was an awkward silence and his hand felt colder than it had before, pushing away the tingling of his lips and the uncertain swirling of his mind and managing a weak smile, glad Kin wasn't being an asshole about this at least. "Come on, let's get you paid up."


Mizuki was aware of the change in atmosphere the minute they arrived back in the bar, complementing the piercing and making some jokey taunts that neither of them replied to wholeheartedly, frowning as Tio awkwardly asked if he wanted to stay for a drink and he refused a little too fast.

"Got new socks to buy, don't I?" He was trying to be funny, to bring the conversation back to when he'd arrived, before he'd done something impulsive and a little stupid, but it didn't really work and Tio's voice was hollow as he answered, sounding lost more than anything, like he'd been suddenly snapped out of his thoughts.
"Oh, yeah of course."

"But um, I was thinking, I might do another guys night or whatever you want to call it next week, if you two wanna come?" He was speaking to both of them but his eyes were focused on Tio, flickering over both of them, reading every tiny personality shift and trying to work something out as Mizuki did the same, speaking on his behalf.

"Sounds good to me, but why don't you have it at Tio's? His place is pretty big so we could invite some more people, maybe some of the guys you don't know as well?"

He was genuinely surprised to be volunteered, but he had said previously that he wouldn't mind, and he guessed being on home turf might be nice, and besides, they'd agreed to be friends and he would uphold that, whatever happened later didn't need to be thought about now. "Oh, yeah that's fine with me."
"Okay, so I'll message you?"

"Yeah, see you."
"Bye guys," he waved as he left and Tio just knew Mizuki was frowning after him as the door shut and the sound of the street outside faded through thick wood, sure there were green eyes on him and not entirely sure he could deal with them right now, feeling a little too warm and sure his cheeks were pink.
"Okay, what happened?"

"I pierced his nose, I have to go get ready for my next appointment," rude it certainly was, but he didn't much want to talk to Mizuki now, he needed to be left alone for a while but he knew the head bartender was always a little too nosy, or maybe he thought it was caring, to leave him alone when he seemed bothered by something. The door opened behind him less than ten minutes later and he'd had no time to process anything by then, irritation seeping up his spine fast because he felt overwhelmed suddenly, refusing to turn around and hearing Mizuki shift uncomfortably on his feet.

"Tio, what happened? Don't try and bullshit me you need to get ready, you don't have an appointment for like forty minutes and you never prepare shit, what's wrong?"

He paused in his pointless movements, shoulders tense and arms wired with nervous muscle, hunched over his counter, hands curled around the cool edges and squeezing too tight, exhaling long and more irritated than upset, air streaming out of his nose as his fingers faltered for a second and something in his hard pose broke.

His voice was strangely emotionless when he spoke, but Mizuki's brow furrowed because his actions didn't match his words and he couldn't understand why, "he kissed me."
Oh, well that hadn't quite been what he expected but he really didn't understand why he was acting so weird now, affixing a genuine smile onto his face and walking up to him, clapping him on the back in a congratulatory manner and voice pleased, "dude that's awesome I told you he likes you!"

He didn't push him off, but he could see from the hard set of his jaw that he wanted to, removing his own hand because he looked a little like he might snap and he wasn't quite sure he wanted to see how that would happen. "Yeah, guess you were right." But his tone was clipped and cold and Mizuki didn't know how to proceed from here, just glad Tio was facing him now even if his smile was too tight and forced.

"Well, I mean isn't this what you wanted? Something new? You like him right?"

It was too many questions, too much was happening and he could feel hot tension rising, reminding him painfully of that one time he'd punched Sly, praying he wouldn't do the same to Mizuki because that really would complicate things. But then he looked up and his expression was so earnest, so genuine in his words and he felt sick because he was so damned wrong, he had no idea, he knew nothing about him and he was supposed to be his best friend, he was supposed to understand.

Shouting before he realised it and oh no he'd lost control of himself now and he needed to reign himself back in, knowing he wouldn't be able to, "no, it's not what I want it's what you want! I wanted- I- I want-" His words failed him because they knew what he wanted and it was stood in front of him looking taken aback and guilty and daring to look offended, it was stepping forwards as if to comfort him and he wanted him nowhere near him, he wanted to get the fuck away from him. He wasn't quite sure why he said what he did next, because if he told Mizuki to leave him alone he most likely would and he could stay in the piercing studio and ignore everything except his customers, but that wasn't what he wanted. "I'm going home, fuck this."
"Wai- Tio, you have customers! You can't just go home!" That was his only objection, that if he left he'd have to deal with annoyed customers with missed appointments, that he'd lose a bartender, he didn't care that he was stressed out and confused and overwhelmed, just that he'd lose a worker, and maybe that was all he was to him.

"Watch me," he picked up his jacket then, from the table where the neatly organised piercing jewellery lay in tiny plastic tubs, yanking it on roughly and material bunching unevenly where it caught on his long sleeves.

"Tio, wait- Hold up you can't just fucking walk out becas-" He'd grabbed his arm now and pulled him nearer, anger in his face and wow, that was an emotion he'd never seen focused on himself before, knowing now that he was selfish, so damned selfish that he didn't care about anybody around him.
"Yes I can! Call them and said I cancelled, or get somebody to cover, I don't give a fuck, now let go of me," his gaze must have been strong enough for Mizuki to realise how bothered he was by this, expression falling and just releasing him silently, hearing him sigh heavily as he stormed out like a sulking child, bar door slamming behind him and just wanting to get somewhere he would be left alone.


Then he tripped, and he was so done with the whole day he almost didn't try to stop himself, but of course reflex kicked in and he felt his ankle wrench as he straightened himself up, ending up staggering down the last two steps like an absolute moron, tearing one hand on the dirty wall. It was honestly the last straw and if he'd been somewhere he knew he wouldn't be discovered he might just cry because everything had gone wrong already today and nothing could get worse.

"Tio? Why are you sitting on the floor?"

But then again maybe things could get worse, recognising the voice immediately and wondering what his chances of running away were, assuming they'd be low as he attempted to stand and sharp pain shot through his ankle. He just turned to see Kin, noticing the bag in his hand, from a small, basic clothing store a few streets from Black Needle, sighing and trying to smile only for it to fail as he grudgingly told the truth, "I think I sprained my ankle."
"Seriously? Shit, how'd you do that? And aren't you meant to be at work?"
"Yeah, I um, left. Me and Mizuki kinda fought," he looked alarmed, glancing to the ankle he was rubbing carefully, stepping down to the bottom of the stairs where he sat, looming over him and looking concerned more than he should after Tio had essentially just rejected him. "I mean we argued, I just slipped on the steps."

"Oh right, I thought you meant you'd actually had a fight," he hesitated then and it was obvious, shifting from foot to foot nervously and still just staring at him, maybe taking in the flush of shame on his cheeks and the grit of his teeth. "Um, do you need a hand getting home or something? Or to the hospital?"

He didn't want to rely on him now, to have to be dragged through the streets like the mess he increasingly felt, but he knew there was no way he'd ever get home by himself, or even back to the bar where he'd have to face Mizuki. He just lowered his head, rubbing at his temple where a headache was developing and avoiding eyes contact which he seemed to be a big fan of, unable to understand why he'd even bothered stopping. "Yeah, I think I do. There's a doctor a couple of streets away, they might be able to help. I- Sorry, I should have just stayed at work, now Mizuki's pissed at me and I've sprained my stupid ankle."
"You're having a bad day, happens to the best of us," he'd smiled then, bending down and offering a horribly familiar hand he had no choice but to take, balancing him as he stood shakily on one leg, gaining a little balance and shifting to lean on his bicep instead so he could stand straight and frowning down at his own misbehaving limb. "Can you put your arm around my neck?"
He just stared at him then, shifting his hand a little uncomfortably and sighing tiredly, exasperatedly because of all people to have rescued him, to be walking through that one, never massively busy alleyway, it would just have to be Kin. "Probably not, you're like a foot taller than me."

"Oh, yeah of course, I can crouch down a bit? Come on, let's get you patched up," he paused to let him position himself, hopping gracelessly into position beside him and wishing beyond anything that he didn't know for certain Kin liked him now, because he slotted under his arm far too easily and he wasn't sure he liked that. Their height difference wasn't as much of an issue as he'd expected though, his arm round Kin's neck as he bent over stupidly to support him, strong arm wrapping round his middle to keep him upright. "Okay?"

"Mm," he nodded, because honestly he could hardly say no after all, pointing with his free hand to the street that led to the doctors, hoping he remembered correctly and that it was as close as he remembered and that they could help.

They walked quietly at first, Tio still stewing a little and perfectly happy to continue this journey in silence until they reached their destination, then to hobble inside with a thank you and see nobody else until he was forced to go back into work. But then Kin spoke and of course he did, voice a little tentative, guiding them to the left to avoid an overhanging pipe that would have smacked Tio in the head given how little attention he was paying. "Do you want me to text Mizuki what happened?"
"No, I'll do it." It faltered then, his speech, feeling his shoulders sag and almost certain Tio had just squeezed his waist a little tighter, a gesture of solidarity he supposed, he appreciated it a little he had to admit, managing a rueful, embarrassed smile. "I need to apologise anyway, I kinda went off on him."

"He'll forgive you, you guys aren't best friends for nothing."
"Hm," but then he fell silent and this time words didn't come as easily, because lately it felt like they were best friends on paper but nowhere else, so many understandings and stupid confusions of emotions criss-crossing them until they could barely refer to themselves as close.


They reached the main street much faster than Tio would have alone, and he was grateful for that at least, Kin making small talk and commenting more than once that he thought his nose was bleeding only for Tio to look and see he was mistaken. But then people started giving them curious looks, presumably taking in their closeness first before noticing Tio leaning heavily on one foot and wincing more than once as he tried to quell the embarrassment by walking normally only to hurt his ankle more.

He wasn't usually the type to be embarrassed at all, especially not by an injury, but somehow with Kin at his side he felt like people were thinking things that weren't true and he wasn't sure how he felt about it, wondering if the giggling girls thought they were a couple and muttering lowly as they finally got back into another quiet side street. "God we look so stupid."
"Little bit," he tried to shrug, Tio could feel it where their sides pressed together, having realised earlier that the pleasant smell he kept catching was Kin himself, his aftershave or something, really unnerved that he both recognised and enjoyed the scent. "I could carry you instead?"
"I will never speak to you again if you do."
"Okay, not carrying you," he tried to raise his arms in surrender before rapidly realising he couldn't quite do that with an arm wrapped around his middle, helping him hop along in a remarkably ungainly manner, reaching a short set of stairs and pausing where they were. "But if you sprain your other ankle going up here I might have to."
"Not. Carrying. Me."
"Alright, alright, fine, come on, hold on tight."

Mortifying, that was what it was, embarrassing, shameful, truly ridiculous, all but hopping up the stairs and realising it would have been a lot less stupid to just let Kin carry him up them since it would have taken all of four minutes and he could have put him down immediately after. But the small living room doctors was only a couple of houses away and he knew soon they'd be able to detach and he'd hopefully be given crutches to limp home on alone, or maybe he could phone somebody else to help him, somebody else whose skin didn't feel so hot against his.

So he bid Kin goodbye and thanked him a rather inappropriate amount, muttering his gratitude and slinking off into the room he was waved towards by the bored looking receptionist who was presumably the doctors daughter, popping her gum obnoxiously and smiling too happily at Kin, feeling jealousy bubble up in his stomach and squashing it down the second he registered it.


He was surprised by Kin again, for what seemed like the millionth time that day when he left the doctor's office with a bottle of painkillers tucked into his pocket and two metal crutches hastily shoved under his armpits, to see him still sat there. In fact he was about to open his mouth and express exactly that when he stood, putting down the magazine he'd been reading and offering a smile, "I'll help you get home, crutches are really hard to use."

"Oh, thank you," and there was a genuineness there he hadn't heard in himself in such a long time, that he'd quite forgotten he was capable of, so when Kin held the door open for him with an amusingly over the top flourish all he could do was laugh and feel a little better.

Finally, fucking finally, they'd arrived at his door, Kin having walked up the stairs right behind him since he was wobbling all over the place and had almost fallen into him at least once,

"You've had the worst day, huh? A hangover, some creep coming onto you at work, yelling at your friend then spraining your ankle. It's almost impressive."
"You're not a creep," he supposed it was meant to sound exasperated, but it came out horribly candidly, both of them faltering for a second as his expression matched his tone, too earnest and almost offended that he'd call himself that. "You just… Misread the mood or whatever."
"Hm, guess so. But anyway, you'll be okay, right?"
"Mm, I'll text Mizuki and get a few days off work, I've done worse before."
"True, true, so I'll message you about hanging out or whatever? Might be nice since you'll be stuck in." He was nice, that thought struck Tio then, he was really, really, genuinely nice, not in the way some people were, where it was obviously put on because they wanted to get into his pants, Kin was nice to everybody, but especially to him, and it was a little nice to be coddled like this.
"Yeah, sure, I'll ask a couple others if they wanna come too."
"Awesome, so remember what the doctor said, rest, ice, compr-"
"Compression, elevation, I know, I'll be fine." He smiled then, reassuringly, Kin just nodding his agreement and saying his farewells, taking the steps two at once and whistling tunelessly, and rather terribly, stupid hair swaying with each step. But it wasn't him Tio thought about when the door shut, all he could do was stare at the old messages behind him and Mizuki, and think about how he'd yelled at him, snapped and been so shitty. Because, nice as Tio undoubtedly was, no amount of concern and friendly help could unwind every tendril of his brain from the image of Mizuki that rested there.