Why you should turn the phone off at night
Title: Why you should turn the phone off at night.
Series: xxxHolic
Pairing: Doumeki/Watanuki
Theme: Drunk
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,127
He awoke to the sound of his ringing telephone. Groaning, he rolled over to squint at the clock. Large green numbers read 1:12 AM, and his squint turned to a glare as the phone range again. For a brief moment, the idea of answering with a harsh, “What?” zipped through his mind, but a life time of obsession with good manners had him answering with a grudging, “Hello?” instead.
There was a pause on the other end of the line before a dull, “Oi.”
Watanuki gaped at the phone in his hand for a full fifteen seconds before forcing himself to growl out the annoyance’s name.
“Doumeki?”
”Yes.” Came the calm response.
“Do you have any idea what time it is? What in hell are you-“
“Did I wake you?” Doumeki interrupted, his voice sounding off in a way Watanuki couldn’t place.
“Of course you woke me, it’s the middle of the night!” he growled.
“Oh. Go back to sleep.”
“Wait, wait.” Watanuki said hurriedly before the other teen could hang up. “I deserve to know why you woke me up.”
“The guy said to call someone.” Doumeki replied.
“What guy?” Watanuki demanded, frustrated.
“The worker guy.” Said Doumeki as it were the most obvious thing in the world. Watanuki took a moment to glare at the other teen through the phone while mentally filtering through the last few moments of conversation.
“Wait.” He said, reaching for his glasses. “Wait. You’re… you’re drunk, aren’t you?”
“That’s what I’ve been told.”
“Where are-“
Watanuki was suddenly cut off by a man’s polite voice.
“Excuse me, sir, I’m the bartender over at Taki’s.” he said quickly. Watanuki recognized the name instantly as it was one of Yuuko-san’s favorite drinking establishments. “Your friend is extremely intoxicated and there’s no way he’s making it home on his own. We need you to come and get him.”
“I’m sorry he’s being a bother, but can’t you just call him a taxi?” asked Kimihiro as he reached for his glasses.
“We tried that, but he said he doesn’t have any more money.”
Giving a long suffering sigh, the teen nodded as though the man could see him and said, “I understand, I’ll be there soon.” And hung up the phone.
Cursing everything about Doumeki Shizuka that he could think of, Watanuki got dressed and began the walk to the bar near his employer’s shop. It was a twenty minute walk, so he had plenty of time to brood about the stupid archer. Once he made it to the bar, he stormed inside, determined to give the other teen hell.
“You!” he growled when he spotted his protector sitting serenely at a booth. It took a moment for Doumeki to look up at him. The faint look of surprise caught Watanuki off guard.
“You came.” Shizuka said softly. Watanuki frowned, unsure why the reaction bothered him so much.
“I couldn’t let you stumble home in the middle of the night, could I? You’d have fallen and broken your neck.” He answered quickly.
“I would have been fine.”
Watanuki rolled his eyes and snagged Doumeki’s arm. “Time to go, you idiot.” He said, his words lacking any of the normal heat. Nodding, Shizuka let himself be pulled to his feet and all but dragged from the bar.
“You’re not even legal. How’d you get in?” Watanuki asked as they made their way up the street.
“I dunno. I just went in and ordered. Guess I look old enough.”
Biting back a snotty retort, Watanuki asked instead, “Why were you drinking?”
Doumeki turned his head just a bit and gave his companion a long look before replying, “It seemed like a good idea.”
“Yuuko-san’s bad habits are rubbing off on you. I can’t believe I had to come pick you up, you lush.”
“I didn’t have anyone else.” Doumeki replied in his regular deadpan voice. The admission caused Watanuki’s stomach to do weird flip-floppy things, and it was then he decided they were done talking. Nothing was said for the rest of the agonizingly slow walk to the temple. As they finally passed through the gate, Doumeki stopped and grabbed Kimihiro’s arm.
“Watanuki, I-“ he began, and Watanuki panicked.
“I- we- It’s late, we should get you inside.” He insisted, pulling away abruptly, forgetting about the hold on his arm. Doumeki, whose balance was not quite up to the task, was pulled forward and tripped over his own feet, knocking him into Watanuki. Together they fell, landing hard on the concrete walk-way. It took Watanuki a few moments to get his bearing. He realized that one of Doumeki’s hands was cushioning the back of his head while the archer’s other arm had taken the brunt of the fall. Doumeki had landed on his own arm so he wouldn’t crush his charge when they fell. Even drunk, the other teen was able to protect him. Watanuki sighed.
“You ok?” Doumeki asked, shifting to look at Watanuki’s face.
“I’m fine. Get off.” He replied, trying to fight the blush that was creeping onto his cheeks.
“Jus’ a second.” Shizuka murmured, leaning in closer. Watanuki swallowed the lump in his throat as he felt the warmth of Doumeki’s breath against his lips. He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. Doumeki moved in just a bit more, leaving only a hair’s width between them. Then, Doumeki sighed and rested his forehead against Watanuki’s.
“I should be not drunk.” He said softly. Too embarrassed to speak, Kimihiro merely nodded. Doumeki sighed again as he rolled off the other teen and stood. He wobbled for a moment, but quickly righted himself before holding out a hand and helping Watanuki to his feet.
Silently, they made their way into the house. As Doumeki got changed into night clothes, Watanuki filled a glass with water and grabbed some aspirin. After entering Doumeki’s room, he set the glass and pills next to the futon.
“Take those before you go to sleep, and drink the whole glass of water!” he said sternly. Doumeki nodded and for once, did as he was told.
“Stay here. It’s too dangerous for you to walk home alone.” Shizuka said as he sat on his futon.
“I was fine walking here, you know!” he snapped, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Stay here.” Shizuka murmured again, his eyes slowly closing.
“Hey! Don’t fall asleep sitting up!” Kimihiro snapped. “I’ll stay, but only because you’re so helpless! And don’t expect me to sleep on the floor!”
Doumeki stayed silent as Watanuki shut off the light and crawled into the futon with him. He couldn’t help the slight smile that spread across his face as he fell asleep, the warmth of Kimihiro next to him giving him a peace he hadn’t known in years.