Good vs. Evil, Chapter 3, Aoi/Kai
Title: Good vs. Evil
Genre: Romance, humour, fluff.
Warnings: Nothing for now.
Rating: NC-17 overall.
Pairings/Characters: Aoi/Kai
Synopsis: Kai is a good student, a good son, and a good citizen. Aoi is the opposite. In 10 weeks of community service, Kai is determined to add ‘good influence’ to his list of achievements.
Comments: Look! Nobody had to remind me to finish this! I demand rewards for my efforts!
By the end of their time together at the library on Saturday, Kai still fully intended to help Aoi find a job. Saturday night, just before they left the library, they exchanged phone numbers. Kai would call him the next day after checking his schedule for an opening.
Sunday night, after a day with Uruha and several of the old folk’s home’s senile residents, he sat at his desk and stared at his calendar. His mother had bought it for him. Each month had a different picture of a lighthouse, all from different countries around the world. May featured a lighthouse sitting atop a grassy cliff in Ireland.
His eyes dropped from the picture to the first Sunday of the month. From there they moved across Monday (helping an elderly lady down the street rearrange her living room furniture), Tuesday (tutoring elementary school children), Wednesday (Bingo night at the retirement home), Thursday (selling tickets door-to-door for a raffle whose proceeds would go towards the local animal shelter), and finally Friday. Friday was blank.
He reached for the phone and called Aoi. Of course Aoi was free Friday, so Kai scribbled turn Aoi into good person into the appropriate square on his calendar.
With his mission in mind, Kai dedicated the little free time that he had to preparing for Aoi’s job search. He kept the job listings from the newspaper every day, carried a notebook around to jot down the location of each WE’RE HIRING! sign. He had gone inside to ask for applications, then moved on to find guidelines for résumés and tips for interviews online.
By Thursday evening, he was well-armed by every bit of job-hunting ammunition he could get his hands on. Kai called Aoi once again to decide on where they would see each other.
“Your place is fine.” Aoi said after Kai explained that he didn’t want to carry all his newspaper clippings, notebooks and print-outs over.
“Oh, by the way,” Kai started, “My mom wants to know if you like macaroons.”
“If I like what?” Aoi listened intently as Kai gave a brief explanation. “She’s gonna give me food? Score!”
I think that means yes, Kai thought, and after hanging up, he ran downstairs to inform his mother that yes, Aoi would like some macaroons when he came over tomorrow after school. Of course he neglected to tell her that Aoi didn’t go to school.
Friday went by quickly enough, and before he knew it, he was at home, inhaling the comforting scent of macaroons. Then Aoi was ringing the doorbell, stepping inside, taking off his shoes (neon green and royal blue with the tongue pulled out oddly) and sniffing in the general direction of the kitchen.
Aoi was more than polite enough with Kai’s mother. She gave them a plate of macaroons and a glass of milk each before returning to the living room to watch her favourite talk show.
Aoi chewed on his macaroons thoughtfully as Kai explained how to fill out the applications, only putting the plate down when they had to start writing his résumé. Little by little, they listed Aoi’s work experiences, accomplishments and redeeming qualities. Kai surprised himself by thinking that a résumé simply couldn’t represent Aoi’s good qualities.
“What was that?” Aoi asked. Kai blinked back at him, not understanding the question. “Something, something, my good qualities.” Kai blanched. Had he thought aloud, or had Aoi read his mind?
“A résumé can’t represent your good qualities.” Kai squeaked, wondering if he’d offended the other boy. Aoi was reaching into his pocket. Kai could only imagine what he was about to pull out. Maybe it would be his phone, to call up his little troublemaking friends from his old town, who would then come egg his house. They would camp outside his door until he came out and beat him up with baseball bats they stole from those cute kids that lived down the street. Maybe Aoi was taking out a gun, yes, a gun that would fit in his pocket, and he was going to shoot Kai, and then his mother would run upstairs and be shot as well.
Kai surprised himself yet again when he was relieved to see Aoi pull out his carton of cigarettes.
“And what would those be?” Aoi asked. Kai thought for a moment.
“You’re easy to talk to,” he started. Despite finding Aoi strange and frightening, he liked the casualness of the few conversations they’d had. Aoi picked up his chair and set it down quietly next to Kai’s bedroom window. When he opened the window before even lighting his cigarette, Kai continued. “And you’re considerate.”
Aoi chuckled. “Just not when it comes to public property.” Kai even managed a giggle at that. He figured it was kind of okay, as long as Aoi was nice to people. “You’re not bad either, though.”
“What do you mean?” Kai asked. Of course I’m not bad, he thought.
“You’re, uh, hard-working,” Aoi replied just before blowing smoke out the window. “But only for other people. I get that it’s nice to do people favours and shit, but dude, you never do anything for yourself.”
“I don’t want to be selfish,” Kai said quietly. However, Aoi’s words weighed heavily on him. Sure, he enjoyed most of what he did with his time. Working at the library was quiet, soothing, and let him mingle with the community. The seniors at the retirement home told him fantastic stories and when they smiled at him, he felt rewarded. He liked school (except math, of course) and when his mother told him how proud she was of his good grades, he felt like he was worth something. He liked making others happy, that much was true. Looking at Aoi, though, he was starting to wonder how much other people’s happiness was actually worth.
“Selfish? Man, listen. Whose life are you living? Yours, or everyone else’s?”
“Mine,” Kai answered, because that was what he thought Aoi wanted to hear.
“No, you’re not. You’re not even thinking your own thoughts.” Aoi bit back, and Kai cringed, because in that moment he felt transparent. Aoi shook his head and flicked the end of his cigarette onto the grass far beneath the window. “So, what happens if they like my application, then?”
“An interview, possibly, though for the jobs you’re applying for, it might not be necessary.” Kai said meekly. “They’ll call you, after a week or two, most of the time. I printed out these articles for you; they should help you with the questions they’re most likely to ask.”
Aoi nodded, took the stack of papers, leafing through them curiously, then tucked them into his backpack. “Let’s say they want an interview. Am I supposed to dress up for that?”
Kai considered what he had seen Aoi wearing so far. “Would it bother you if I came over and helped you with that?” he asked.
“Not at all. My mom won’t be making you macaroons, though.”
Genre: Romance, humour, fluff.
Warnings: Nothing for now.
Rating: NC-17 overall.
Pairings/Characters: Aoi/Kai
Synopsis: Kai is a good student, a good son, and a good citizen. Aoi is the opposite. In 10 weeks of community service, Kai is determined to add ‘good influence’ to his list of achievements.
Comments: Look! Nobody had to remind me to finish this! I demand rewards for my efforts!
By the end of their time together at the library on Saturday, Kai still fully intended to help Aoi find a job. Saturday night, just before they left the library, they exchanged phone numbers. Kai would call him the next day after checking his schedule for an opening.
Sunday night, after a day with Uruha and several of the old folk’s home’s senile residents, he sat at his desk and stared at his calendar. His mother had bought it for him. Each month had a different picture of a lighthouse, all from different countries around the world. May featured a lighthouse sitting atop a grassy cliff in Ireland.
His eyes dropped from the picture to the first Sunday of the month. From there they moved across Monday (helping an elderly lady down the street rearrange her living room furniture), Tuesday (tutoring elementary school children), Wednesday (Bingo night at the retirement home), Thursday (selling tickets door-to-door for a raffle whose proceeds would go towards the local animal shelter), and finally Friday. Friday was blank.
He reached for the phone and called Aoi. Of course Aoi was free Friday, so Kai scribbled turn Aoi into good person into the appropriate square on his calendar.
With his mission in mind, Kai dedicated the little free time that he had to preparing for Aoi’s job search. He kept the job listings from the newspaper every day, carried a notebook around to jot down the location of each WE’RE HIRING! sign. He had gone inside to ask for applications, then moved on to find guidelines for résumés and tips for interviews online.
By Thursday evening, he was well-armed by every bit of job-hunting ammunition he could get his hands on. Kai called Aoi once again to decide on where they would see each other.
“Your place is fine.” Aoi said after Kai explained that he didn’t want to carry all his newspaper clippings, notebooks and print-outs over.
“Oh, by the way,” Kai started, “My mom wants to know if you like macaroons.”
“If I like what?” Aoi listened intently as Kai gave a brief explanation. “She’s gonna give me food? Score!”
I think that means yes, Kai thought, and after hanging up, he ran downstairs to inform his mother that yes, Aoi would like some macaroons when he came over tomorrow after school. Of course he neglected to tell her that Aoi didn’t go to school.
Friday went by quickly enough, and before he knew it, he was at home, inhaling the comforting scent of macaroons. Then Aoi was ringing the doorbell, stepping inside, taking off his shoes (neon green and royal blue with the tongue pulled out oddly) and sniffing in the general direction of the kitchen.
Aoi was more than polite enough with Kai’s mother. She gave them a plate of macaroons and a glass of milk each before returning to the living room to watch her favourite talk show.
Aoi chewed on his macaroons thoughtfully as Kai explained how to fill out the applications, only putting the plate down when they had to start writing his résumé. Little by little, they listed Aoi’s work experiences, accomplishments and redeeming qualities. Kai surprised himself by thinking that a résumé simply couldn’t represent Aoi’s good qualities.
“What was that?” Aoi asked. Kai blinked back at him, not understanding the question. “Something, something, my good qualities.” Kai blanched. Had he thought aloud, or had Aoi read his mind?
“A résumé can’t represent your good qualities.” Kai squeaked, wondering if he’d offended the other boy. Aoi was reaching into his pocket. Kai could only imagine what he was about to pull out. Maybe it would be his phone, to call up his little troublemaking friends from his old town, who would then come egg his house. They would camp outside his door until he came out and beat him up with baseball bats they stole from those cute kids that lived down the street. Maybe Aoi was taking out a gun, yes, a gun that would fit in his pocket, and he was going to shoot Kai, and then his mother would run upstairs and be shot as well.
Kai surprised himself yet again when he was relieved to see Aoi pull out his carton of cigarettes.
“And what would those be?” Aoi asked. Kai thought for a moment.
“You’re easy to talk to,” he started. Despite finding Aoi strange and frightening, he liked the casualness of the few conversations they’d had. Aoi picked up his chair and set it down quietly next to Kai’s bedroom window. When he opened the window before even lighting his cigarette, Kai continued. “And you’re considerate.”
Aoi chuckled. “Just not when it comes to public property.” Kai even managed a giggle at that. He figured it was kind of okay, as long as Aoi was nice to people. “You’re not bad either, though.”
“What do you mean?” Kai asked. Of course I’m not bad, he thought.
“You’re, uh, hard-working,” Aoi replied just before blowing smoke out the window. “But only for other people. I get that it’s nice to do people favours and shit, but dude, you never do anything for yourself.”
“I don’t want to be selfish,” Kai said quietly. However, Aoi’s words weighed heavily on him. Sure, he enjoyed most of what he did with his time. Working at the library was quiet, soothing, and let him mingle with the community. The seniors at the retirement home told him fantastic stories and when they smiled at him, he felt rewarded. He liked school (except math, of course) and when his mother told him how proud she was of his good grades, he felt like he was worth something. He liked making others happy, that much was true. Looking at Aoi, though, he was starting to wonder how much other people’s happiness was actually worth.
“Selfish? Man, listen. Whose life are you living? Yours, or everyone else’s?”
“Mine,” Kai answered, because that was what he thought Aoi wanted to hear.
“No, you’re not. You’re not even thinking your own thoughts.” Aoi bit back, and Kai cringed, because in that moment he felt transparent. Aoi shook his head and flicked the end of his cigarette onto the grass far beneath the window. “So, what happens if they like my application, then?”
“An interview, possibly, though for the jobs you’re applying for, it might not be necessary.” Kai said meekly. “They’ll call you, after a week or two, most of the time. I printed out these articles for you; they should help you with the questions they’re most likely to ask.”
Aoi nodded, took the stack of papers, leafing through them curiously, then tucked them into his backpack. “Let’s say they want an interview. Am I supposed to dress up for that?”
Kai considered what he had seen Aoi wearing so far. “Would it bother you if I came over and helped you with that?” he asked.
“Not at all. My mom won’t be making you macaroons, though.”