exsiliumlogs | [closed] i think i'll breathe again

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[closed] i think i'll breathe again

Date & Time: August 12th, evening
Location: Some in-town restaurant, Apartment 701
Characters: Haruto Souma & Kousuke Nitoh
Summary: Birthdays.
Warnings: Kissing???? I'll update if it needs it.

He'd actually made reservations--for six o'clock, with a restaurant he knew would take Transports, because he'd asked. (It had taken fewer than he'd thought--perhaps his good reputation was getting around?) He skips out on training, wanting to avoid exhaustion from mana overuse, and asks Oriko to help him bake a cake. He even locates birthday candles, though he doesn't decorate or anything.

He's dressed up enough to look nice. Not so nice he's afraid to get any of it wet, but there's a button-down shirt tucked properly into his pants, at least. His hair is, as always, impeccable, and he's picked up an umbrella actually big enough for two, instead of his small, lopsided usual.

"Kousuke," he calls, holding the small wrapped box holding Nitoh's present between his palms. "Are you ready to go?"

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"Yeah, yeah! Almost..." comes from Nitoh's shut door. He bought a couple things, cos even with layers upon layers, it probably gets colder here than it ever did in Tokyo, and Fukui's not much colder than Tokyo either. He walks out in a dark sweater over a dress shirt, along with a pair of nice, not ripped up jeans. Of course the shoes are still the boots, but he figures with the wetness... If he needs different shoes someday, he'll buy 'em. But not on Asami's bill.

He comes out carrying a wool jacket in green plaid. Not exactly his style, but if Haruto's right and it gets really cold in the winter, he's gonna need it. He hangs it up and poses just a little, palms out. "So what d'you think? I thought it might be a little too... I dunno, old fashioned, but it's nice and warm at least."

He shrugs his shoulders, where the new shirt is still bunching up a little. Then he tilts his head with a little smile, "I guess I gotta grow up someday!"

Haruto's eyebrows rise when the door opens, and he looks Nitoh up and down with an appreciative curve to his mouth. "Very nice," he says, "not old fashioned at all. Just not--trendy college student. More professional." He nods, satisfied with that answer. "You bought a coat, too, finally?"

He lopes closer. "I got you something," he says, though he figures that's obvious as he lifts the present, blue wrapping paper and gold bow. "Happy birthday." He's abruptly a little nervous, and looks away, rubbing his finger under his nose.

"I guess if I ever become a professor I'll have to dress nice and professional right up til I get tenure," he says, bobbing up and down with a grin. Haruto's dressed nice too, but that's pretty usual for him. Maybe it's a bit formal, but hey, it's a nice date, so that's cool. "And yeah I bought a jacket... I dunno how fast it gets cold when summer's over so I figured now's the time. Not that it's been a warm summer..."

He grins bigger, "Do I get to open it now?" He puts his hands up and wiggles his fingers over the present.

"And then it's back to lion t-shirts, huh?" he asks, with a smirk. "I don't know either, since I dropped in right before Christmas. Let's hope winter isn't much colder than last year's..." He's not sure he wants to deal with that.

"I wouldn't give it to you now if I didn't want you to to open it until later," he points out, extending it out a little more. "So, sure, go ahead."

"Heck yeah, I'll be totally cool." He beams. Then he's considering winter. "Oh well. I'll keep you warm..." he murmurs, with an exaggerated and slightly awkward wink.

"A-anyway!" he says, and then grabs the present, unwrapping it without preamble and opening the box. It's a pendant, a lion's head on a cross. He stares at it in awe for a moment. "Oh man... This is so totally perfect!!" He grabs it up out of the box and starts to put it on immediately, discarding the box onto the floor without seeming to notice.

"I've totally been meaning to get somethin' to wear around my neck, and this thing is badass!!" He struggles with the clasp, unused to putting on things behind his head. "Can you get it for me?" He whirls and holds the clasp up to Haruto.

Haruto snickers. "I'm sure you will," he says, ignoring the innuendo to save Nitoh's dignity. "You're a walking space heater." This is a trait he's fond of.

He watches Nitoh's face, intent, as he rips it open, and notes the box on the floor only distantly, hesitantly curved mouth widening into an honest smile of relief. As Nitoh fiddles with it, he reaches up halfway to stop him, but then Nitoh is spinning around and asking for help.

"Sure," he says, "give me one minute," and gets behind him to do the clasp in a familiar move. Once it's done, he lets go, only to rest his hands on Nitoh's hips and brush a kiss over the skin of his neck just above his collar.

"It wasn't as much fun in the Cretaceous, but here it's pretty useful, heh." He smiles crooked, a little bit red.

Nitoh's still not used to the casual touches and affection from Haruto. He's the one who's supposed to be touching Haruto, not the other way around. It's the biggest indication that their relationship has changed. He gets goosebumps, in a good way, and turns around.

He lifts the charm and admires it. It's a cool, heavy weight... He puts his hands around Haruto's waist. "So, uh... How long before we gotta be there, huh?" He asks, a little capriciousness in his tone.

"Yeah, nuclear winter is a lot chillier than dinoland," Haruto agrees, and raises his eyebrows as Nitoh turns around.

"Hmmm... our reservation is at six, so not long at all," he says, finally, genuine regret in his voice. He leans forward in Nitoh's grip to kiss him slowly for half a minute, long enough to be clear without, well, inciting boners. They'd miss dinner for sure.

"Come on," he says, pulling back, and offers Nitoh his upturned palm. He shifts on his toes, nervously.

He follows Haruto's head with his, not wanting to let go. Their lips make a pleasant noise as they pull apart. "Ahh... I spose." He sighs. But it's his birthday, so he's pretty sure he's not gonna end up left wanting. He reminds himself not to eat anything that'll screw things up, after what happened with the whole spice challenge thing... Insult to injury, that was.

He's still a little nervous about holding hands, not cos he's worried anyone will see them so much as it feels so intense when he's doing it. He puts his hand in Haruto's anyhow, and grips it. "All right! So what's this place we're going to like?"

If Haruto's plans come to fruition, Nitoh won't have to worry about satisfaction at all. He would certainly hope to avoid a repeat of the spice challenge, but he's barely even thinking of it as he squeezes Nitoh's hand. He doesn't move right away. "I found a place that makes Japanese food--properly. They're mostly Indian food, but they had a Japanese guy on staff, and everything." Everywhere in Exsilium is a specific brand of shabby, he finds, but this place was clean, and repaired. And the smell of udon had been perfect. So that was good enough

He shifts on his toes to move toward the door, slow enough that he's not dragging Nitoh along or anything.

"Really?? That's awesome!!" He bounces up and down a bit and follows. The necklace moves on his chest and he's quietly pleased. Birthday in a strange dystopian future notwithstanding, it was pretty good so far.

Edited 2013-08-12 19:20 (UTC)

"It was a lucky find, but I'm glad I made it," Haruto agrees. Honestly, he'd initially gotten a tip, from one of the Exiles who didn't hate him. Networking had its benefits, apparently. In the doorway, he lets Nitoh go, to pull on his knee-length raincoat and pluck the umbrella free from the holder in the foyer.

Oriko had announced she was going to hang out with Kirika, a mark of her true wisdom (or, perhaps, her foresight, but Haruto's not going to ask), so he holds the door open and trails Nitoh leaving with his hand low on Nitoh's back. He pauses to lock the door and then catches up, tangling his fingers in Nitoh as he taps at the elevator button. "It even manages to be on this end of town," he says, which isn't entirely unexpected given how much business the Transports could potentially drum up, but is still a boon.

Nitoh doesn't really get Haruto's raincoat/umbrella combo, sure it rains all the time, but never very hard. But sharing an umbrella is kind of romance manga cute. He grins, pressing his shoulder into Haruto's with a sigh.

"Sweet. I'm lookin' forward to seeing what they've got...! Wish it was easier to get stuff like soba noodles here... It's just not the same with western noodles." If he weren't dating Haruto, he'd definitely be crowding him. He feels sort of aggressively affectionate. His usual birthday stuff was casual... A karaoke room that people come in and out of, maybe an underclassman giving him a little gift during school...

He kisses Haruto suddenly, feeling happy and good. His kiss is a little more aggressive than Haruto's earlier one, he presses their bodies so close that it sandwiches the gift between the two of them.

Haruto would have things to say about Nitoh's opinion of his rain preparations, mostly 'I care about the state of my hair', and 'have you never been outside when the rain gets worse, because it does that sometimes, you idiot'. Instead, he's distracted, because Nitoh is pressed up against him in exactly the way he was trying to avoid, because self control was hard in a situation like this. He kisses back, leaning against Nitoh with a half-sigh.

The elevator door opens with a 'ding', and he backs off enough to pant against the corner of Nitoh's mouth. "Kousuke," he says, with an edge. Then he twists his head to look at the elevator--empty. Good. He shifts, pulling his hand from Nitoh's to get his grip in the fabric of Nitoh's sweater, and tugs, moving toward it. Seven floors of shoving Nitoh up against a corner and kissing him--not his idea of a bad birthday, really.

Edited 2013-08-13 15:27 (UTC)

He grins and licks his lips as he follows along, perfectly willing to be pushed into a corner if it means he gets to have birthday kisses. Of course, he can't let things go without pushing back, he starts to let his hands roam and unbutton Haruto's goofy raincoat.

"Bet this thing's too hot right now..." he mutters against Haruto's lips.

"Everything is too hot right now," Haruto answers, unwilling to give Nitoh the satisfaction of getting him to say the raincoat was unnecessary. What's really unnecessary right now is, in his opinion, pants. And dignity that prevented handjobs in an elevator. Regardless, he leans into Nitoh's hands, one of his own settling quite firmly on Nitoh's derriere.

Nitoh very reluctantly pulls his face away, resting his head back on the wall of the elevator. "Hehe. Yeah, I am too hot, I know," he says good-naturedly. He presses his hand to Haruto's chest. "I guess I should be more responsible. I really wanna see what they got at that restaurant, I can't be runnin' us back up to the apartment just cos I'm in a good mood."

"Well, it's your birthday," Haruto says, slowly unraveling from Nitoh until his hands are set gently against Nitoh's hips, but they're otherwise at least a few inches apart. "And what you want, you get--for today." Clarification is probably necessary.

The elevator comes to a stop, and he takes a deep breath before he pulls away, umbrella hooked over his forearm. He lingers in the doorway, looking back over his shoulder. "You going to be able to walk?" he teases.

He definitely doesn't see the allure in getting with Haruto in an elevator where they could get caught. Making out is one thing, but any further than that's just too far.

He laughs. "I'm fine! I'm totally fine. I barely got a semi, and I'm like the king of hiding boners." He grins, walking freely out of the elevator. "You shoulda seen me in high school."

Haruto doesn't find much allure in getting caught, either, and with a deep breath, he re-settles his composure. (And his libido.) "I'm sure your highschool boner days were something to behold," he drawls, swallowing laughter. "Come on, we're getting side-tracked again." He pauses in the doorway out of the apartment building to open his umbrella. It's not pouring--yet--but the skies have darkened some. He doesn't intend on taking any chances, and winding up at the restaurant soaking wet. He pauses, to rearrange the umbrella in his hands and make sure Nitoh's at least partially under it, before he steps out of the building and onto the sidewalk, turning left.

He grins and walks out next to Haruto, not entirely bothered by his outside shoulder getting sprinkled on. "How far's the place?" He asks, only now considering exactly what Haruto might have meant by 'what you want, you get.'

He bumps Haruto's shoulders, partly a function of his gait and partly just to touch on him. "We're gonna get cake or whatever, too, right?"

"Three blocks up and then six in that direction," Haruto recites, from memory, gesturing toward their right with his free hand. He knocks his elbow against Nitoh's when he starts bumping into him. "There's a cake at home already," he says, looking away. His baking session with Oriko had been enlightening. And full of too much mayonnaise. Besides his slightly lopsided frosting job, the cake had seemed okay, though. "But if you want dessert, I won't stop you."

He raises his eyebrows, "Is that what you were doin' that made the house all smell good?!" he hops in front of Haruto, walking backwards enthusiastically, not paying attention to the other people on the street. He grins. "You made me a cake yourself?"

He hops a little, backwards. "I'm totally gonna leave room for it! You gotta eat a cake that the person you like makes for you, cos wow if you don't you're a huge jerk." He reaches forward and ruffles Haruto's hair.

"Nitoh," Haruto grumbles, batting at Nitoh hand and finally catching his wrist. "Stop that," he says, and then releases Nitoh's wrist so he can fix it.

"Oriko helped," he continues, as he finger-combs the front down again. "But yes, I made you a cake. ...a mayonnaise cake." He feels that that part of the process needs to be highlighted. He's pleased, though, that Nitoh has enough faith to want to eat it.

"Aaaah, you're so cute!" He fists his hands and raises them into the air, grinning and turning under the sprinkling water. "Man, how'd I never realize you were so cute?!"

He pauses to let Haruto catch up and rolls his arm over his shoulder, nestling under the umbrella with him. "Oh, good, if Oriko helped there's no way she let you screw it up."

Haruto laughs, really laughs, rolling his eyes. "I am not," he says, but when Nitoh drapes himself over his shoulders, he leans easily against him, with that warm sense of familiarity. He turns his head to scowl, despite it. "I'm not that bad," he grumbles, sounding a little put out. "But she did make it better," he finally concedes.

"Nah you totally are, you just try to hide it." He squeezes Haruto's shoulder. "That's my favorite part."

He laughs. "I'm sure you coulda made a great cake all on your own too. We should make one together next time someone else has a birthday. Like Oriko. Or maybe just for fun! You don't always gotta have a reason."

"Whatever you say," Haruto says, humoring him. Carefully, he shifts the umbrella into his outside hand, to curl his arm low around Nitoh's back.

"We can make a cake whenever you want," he says, "as long as you give me a couple hours' advance warning." Carefully, he tugs Nitoh toward the upcoming right turn. "We should probably give Oriko some advance warning, too. Otherwise Kirika will eat half the batter and we won't have enough for a cake." He feels warm, in his chest, and it makes him smile, small but genuine, at Nitoh.

He takes that as a win, honestly. He's pleased and warm and a little sprinkled with water.

"Yeah, we better be careful to make double the batter if Kirika's gonna be there." He smirks. The smile Haruto's giving him is one of those rare non-mocking smiles, and that feels good too. Things have been... a bit better between him and Oriko. On her end it's as cordial as ever, but he's been chatting with her a little more. Even if he didn't still like her, even though her mercenary parts scared him, it'd be worth it to make up for Haruto's sake, he's pretty sure.

"If we put you on 'adding mayonnaise to the batter' duty, we might end up with twice as much just from you getting over-enthusiastic," he drawls, as they round the corner and continue on down.

He hasn't missed the slight change in the atmosphere at their apartment. It's gratifying, to see Nitoh trying to make it work. "Let's hope the rain doesn't get any worse while we're out, huh?"

He grins. "Then you better put me on that duty." As if he wasn't always on that duty.

He shrugs. "Doesn't bother me, and you got your umbrella. I'll just hang on you if I get super wet."

"As if you even need to be put on that duty?" Haruto teases. "You'd find a way to mayo-bomb homemade mayonnaise." It's fond.

"You are not hanging on me if you're soaking wet," he says, making a face. He just hopes they don't get a storm. Those always make him melancholy, and he'd like to avoid that, for Nitoh.

"That's my full time job til I find a new one. And I have mayo bombed mayonnaise, because have you ever tasted western mayonnaise? It's really gross." He is dead serious, as he always is about mayonnaise.

"I gotta hang on you to get under the umbrella, so I don't get soaking wet!" He hangs over Haruto's shoulders as if to illustrate.

"I hope employment offers open soon, then," Haruto drawls--"I avoid all mayonnaise. It's a reflex by now."

He groans as Nitoh leans all over him, wiggling in Nitoh's grip. Not hard enough to break free, but enough to register his displeasure. His hand fists in the back of Nitoh's shirt. "We're going to fall over."

"Haha, me too. Mayonnaise isn't cheap!" He leans in to kiss Haruto quick on the lips, "And you don't avoid mayonnaise that hard or you wouldn't be with me, right??"

"No, you're gonna fall over and I'm gonna fall with you." But he lets up, leaning away a little more. "Man, this is a pretty awesome birthday already, though."

"It's part of the Nitoh package deal," Haruto answers, kissing back.

"Same thing in the end, isn't it?" he asks, straightening up. "You think so?" A beat. "It'll get better, later." If he has any say in it, anyway.

"Haha, it sure is!!" He grins.

"I guess, but if you fall first, I win." At the- not ominous, that's not the right word... PROMISING, that's it - pause, he blinks owlishly at Haruto. "You got more plans? More surprises?"

"That's not how that works," Haruto answers, elbowing at him. His expression turns smug as they come up on the restaurant.

"Maybe," he drawls. "I think you'll like it. You've liked the other installments." God, he hopes Nitoh doesn't think he means a book.

He grins and peers into the restaurant like a kid in a candy store. But Haruto's doing his sexy voice, and Nitoh can always pick that out.

He blushes faintly. "Ah, yeah? Yeah? Um... Cool... Awesome, then. You wanna- you wanna eat, though? We're here and all..."

Ah. Good. "We came all the way over here," he says, and reaches to pull the door open. "So yes, I do. C'mon, birthday boy."

Nitoh's blushing a little harder now. "Good, okay, great. Awesome." He's definitely going to be buzzing with anticipation and trying to figure out exactly what Haruto's plans are throughout dinner.

Well, at least until the food comes. "All right, birthday boy's boyfriend!" he shouts, brightly, laughing. He grabs Haruto by the wrist and drags him in, greeting the owners loudly.

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[closed] i think i'll breathe again

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