Prompt 4: This Old House - Team AU
Title: This Old House
Rating: PG
Pairing: Gen
Summary: From what he had gathered, his great uncle had been an estranged, eclectic man. No one had seen him for years, and as such, Tomohisa had never even heard of the man prior to being informed last month that he was now the proud owner of a house on the coast.
Prompt: "SUMMER TIME" by NEWS
Warnings: Some swearing
Notes: The setting (among other things) draws heavily from the SUMMER TIME PV, although I reckon it's rather obvious. Many thanks to my beta. ILU, potato cakes.
Tomohisa looked at the house dubiously and shifted his suitcase to his other hand. The building in front of him stood two storeys and was covered in a blue paint, faded and peeling with age. It had two wide, wrap-around porches and long, shuttered windows. It used to be his great uncle's holiday home-- or so he was told. From what he had gathered, his great uncle had been an estranged, eclectic man. No one had seen him for years, and as such, Tomohisa had never even heard of the man prior to being informed last month that he was now the proud owner of a house on the coast. Having been previously living in a shabby little apartment a few miles inland, Tomohisa was more than happy to move.
He climbed the porch steps carefully, listening to each groan of the wooden stairs and wondering if they would give. The old lock stuck a bit as he struggled with the keys, but he finally managed to push open the front door with a loud creak. The main room was almost less impressive than the outside; knick-knacks cluttered the set-in shelves, formerly white sheets shrouded what Tomohisa could only assume was furniture, and frames that seemed to be displaying nothing but dust lined the walls. He set his bag down and tried to ignore the plumes of dust that rose with each step. Sunlight flooded the room as he opened the windows and pushed open the shutters; he immediately regretted his decision. Dust covered every imaginable surface from the floor to the ceiling fan.
He sighed and rolled his sleeves up.
The kitchen, bathroom, and the four upstairs bedrooms were slightly more presentable, if a bit musty. Mattresses that were God-knows-how-old sat bare in their bed frames and the curtains hung stiff and yellow. He was suddenly very thankful for bringing his sleeping bag.
After a week and a half of seemingly endless cleaning, Tomohisa, tired and perpetually covered in dust, decided it was time to call in reinforcements. He picked up his cell phone and punched in a familiar number.
"Hey, Ryo-chan?"
---
Ryo arrived while Tomohisa was wrestling with a particularly nasty spiderweb in the corner of the main room. He was perched on top of the bar, bandana tied around his head, muttering curses and swatting at the corner with a broom. Ryo laughed outright at the scene. Tomohisa, in the midst of an upward swing, stumbled back, startled. He landed on the bar top with a heavy thud and a scowl.
"Going all domestic now that you're a homeowner, Pi?"
Tomohisa brushed himself off and hopped down from the bar.
"Hardly. You should have seen this place a week ago. 'Holiday home,' my ass. I don't think anyone's had a holiday here for a good thirty years," Tomohisa said with a grimace.
Ryo raised an eyebrow at him. "So, what? Don't tell me you just called me out here to help you clean."
Tomohisa grinned and threw a dust rag at him. "You have to ask?"
---
Ryo stayed (and complained) for two days of dusting, sweeping, and scrubbing.
"As much as I would absolutely love to stay and help you pick out curtains or find you a nice frilly, pink apron or whatever, I have to go to work," Ryo said, deadpan, as he pocketed his keys. "I need to go back into the city to get my work clothes and then come all the way back here to go to work just down the street. Way to waste my gas, Yamashita."
Tomohisa stretched and set his broom down. "Why don't you just move in here with me?"
Ryo paused en route to the door, brow furrowing. "What, seriously?"
Tomohisa shrugged. "Yeah, why not?"
Ryo laughed as he tugged the front door open and made his way to his car. Tomohisa stepped out onto the porch and shouted after him, "So is that a yes or a no?"
Ryo waved casually over one shoulder and called back, "Yeah, why not?"
He showed up the next afternoon with bags in his hands and a smirk on his face. "What, no 'welcome home, dear'?"
---
Ryo worked full time as a line cook at a family owned restaurant just up the road. He swore by their food (and swore it wasn't just because he was the one that prepared it) and encouraged Tomohisa to come for lunch one day. However, Ryo felt the need to warn Tomohisa about the owner/host of the restaurant, Koyama. Apparently being a recent college graduate left him with plenty of time on his hands and plenty to talk about with anyone willing to listen.
Koyama was friendly, to say the least. He started chattering on a mile a minute from the moment Tomohisa walked in the door. Tomohisa felt like he already knew Koyama's life story. At the very least, he now knew that:
1) Koyama's parents had passed away a few years ago ("--but it was okay, you know, because I had my sister--")
2) Koyama's sister had gotten married recently ("--and it was a beautiful wedding, really it was--")
3) Koyama's sister was now pregnant ("I love kids, they're just so cute, and it's going to be so much fun being an uncle, and--")
Tomohisa thought Ryo was right when he said Koyama took some getting used to. It wasn't that Tomohisa found him annoying; he just talked so damn fast.
Koyama and Tomohisa were bonding over a recent TV show when someone hooked a finger in Koyama's shirt collar and yanked. The boy flashed a winning smile at Tomohisa. "I'm sorry, sir, is he bothering you? Tegoshi forgot to give him decaf instead of regular," he said, shooting a look at another waiter who stuck his tongue out in exchange.
"No, he's fine," Tomohisa said with a casual wave of his hand.
Koyama wriggled around. "Shige, let go!"
Shige rolled his eyes and loosened his grip. "Speaking of decaf, can I get you a refill?" He gestured at Tomohisa's nearly empty coffee cup.
"Yeah, that'd be great."
---
When business fell to a lull after lunch, Shige and Ryo joined Koyama and Tomohisa at the table.
"So you guys are looking into apartments?" Tomohisa asked.
Koyama nodded. "I don't want to crowd my sister and brother-in-law, especially with the baby coming. Shige just wants to move out of his parents' house, you know? I thought 'wow, wouldn't it be great if Shige and I could live together?' And so I--"
Shige elbowed him in the ribs. "Koyama."
"What are you looking into? One or two bedrooms?" Tomohisa asked.
Shige shrugged.
"Doesn't matter, I suppose," Koyama said.
Ryo flashed a smug grin at Shige. "How very heterosexual of you, Kato."
Shige raised his eyebrows. "Says the man who just moved into a beach house with his best friend?"
Ryo shot him a glare. "We have separate bedrooms."
Tomohisa settled back in his chair and pursed his lips, thinking, as Ryo and Shige started bickering, and Koyama asked them to stop fighting, please. He took another sip of his coffee and spoke up.
"Why don't you guys just move in with us?"
Ryo and Shige paused mid-squabble and Koyama mid-flail. Ryo mouthed something that seemed to be threatening bodily harm.
"I mean, we've got a couple more rooms," he continued. "You'd have to pay rent, of course, but it'd be a hell of a lot cheaper than getting an apartment."
Koyama looked like he was on the verge of tears. He shook Tomohisa's hand vigorously. "Oh, thank you so much, Yamashita-kun! Thank you!"
"Koyama, stop blubbering," Shige said, sounding exasperated.
They moved in a week later.
---
Tomohisa wasn't quite sure how Tegoshi and Massu ended up moving in. Well, he's had the story told to him, but he mostly remembers waking up with the worst hangover of his life, stumbling out into the hall and being greeted with the sight of Tegoshi and that Masuda kid (whom he'd seen working at the local tourist trap) dragging suitcases up the stairs.
"Good morning, Yamashita-kun!" Tegoshi chirped. "Thanks so much for letting us stay!"
Tomohisa went back to bed.
---
"Kei-chan, Massu, and I are making smoothies! Who wants one?" Tegoshi called from the kitchen.
Ryo's hands paused on his guitar. "Who let Tegoshi use the blender? Kato, go supervise."
"What? Why me?" Shige looked up from his homework and pulled his glasses off.
"Because I said so."
Shige went back to his homework.
Ryo folded his arms over the curve of his guitar and leaned forward to make eyes at Shige. "Because you're oh so responsible and good looking and oh, gee, I wish I could be just like you, Kato Shigeaki."
Shige set his pencil down, looking vaguely sick. "Okay. Okay, I'll go supervise. Just-- don't do that ever again," he said.
"Oh, and hey, get me one," Ryo called after him, already retrieving his pick from the fret board.
A crash sounded from the kitchen and Koyama shouted, "Don't worry! I'll fix it!" covering Shige's admonishment of "Koyama, you moron!"
Tomohisa's head snapped up at the sound.
"Ryo. Hey, Ryo-chan," he said, a bit dazed.
Ryo continued to pluck out a melody on his guitar. "What?"
"Why do I have a house full of people?"
Ryo set his guitar aside and gave him a look. "Because you are an idiot who has an obvious problem when it comes to randomly inviting people to move in. I hope you get that problem taken care of because there's no way I'm sharing a room with anyone. Even you, Yamashita." He rolled his eyes and picked his guitar back up, muttering something about needing smarter friends.
Tomohisa heard the whirr of the blender, something hitting the wall, a couple shouts, and an "Oh my god, you guys. You have to put the lid on first."
"Huh," Tomohisa said. "That's weird."
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Poll Team AU - This Old House
Rating: PG
Pairing: Gen
Summary: From what he had gathered, his great uncle had been an estranged, eclectic man. No one had seen him for years, and as such, Tomohisa had never even heard of the man prior to being informed last month that he was now the proud owner of a house on the coast.
Prompt: "SUMMER TIME" by NEWS
Warnings: Some swearing
Notes: The setting (among other things) draws heavily from the SUMMER TIME PV, although I reckon it's rather obvious. Many thanks to my beta. ILU, potato cakes.
Tomohisa looked at the house dubiously and shifted his suitcase to his other hand. The building in front of him stood two storeys and was covered in a blue paint, faded and peeling with age. It had two wide, wrap-around porches and long, shuttered windows. It used to be his great uncle's holiday home-- or so he was told. From what he had gathered, his great uncle had been an estranged, eclectic man. No one had seen him for years, and as such, Tomohisa had never even heard of the man prior to being informed last month that he was now the proud owner of a house on the coast. Having been previously living in a shabby little apartment a few miles inland, Tomohisa was more than happy to move.
He climbed the porch steps carefully, listening to each groan of the wooden stairs and wondering if they would give. The old lock stuck a bit as he struggled with the keys, but he finally managed to push open the front door with a loud creak. The main room was almost less impressive than the outside; knick-knacks cluttered the set-in shelves, formerly white sheets shrouded what Tomohisa could only assume was furniture, and frames that seemed to be displaying nothing but dust lined the walls. He set his bag down and tried to ignore the plumes of dust that rose with each step. Sunlight flooded the room as he opened the windows and pushed open the shutters; he immediately regretted his decision. Dust covered every imaginable surface from the floor to the ceiling fan.
He sighed and rolled his sleeves up.
The kitchen, bathroom, and the four upstairs bedrooms were slightly more presentable, if a bit musty. Mattresses that were God-knows-how-old sat bare in their bed frames and the curtains hung stiff and yellow. He was suddenly very thankful for bringing his sleeping bag.
After a week and a half of seemingly endless cleaning, Tomohisa, tired and perpetually covered in dust, decided it was time to call in reinforcements. He picked up his cell phone and punched in a familiar number.
"Hey, Ryo-chan?"
---
Ryo arrived while Tomohisa was wrestling with a particularly nasty spiderweb in the corner of the main room. He was perched on top of the bar, bandana tied around his head, muttering curses and swatting at the corner with a broom. Ryo laughed outright at the scene. Tomohisa, in the midst of an upward swing, stumbled back, startled. He landed on the bar top with a heavy thud and a scowl.
"Going all domestic now that you're a homeowner, Pi?"
Tomohisa brushed himself off and hopped down from the bar.
"Hardly. You should have seen this place a week ago. 'Holiday home,' my ass. I don't think anyone's had a holiday here for a good thirty years," Tomohisa said with a grimace.
Ryo raised an eyebrow at him. "So, what? Don't tell me you just called me out here to help you clean."
Tomohisa grinned and threw a dust rag at him. "You have to ask?"
---
Ryo stayed (and complained) for two days of dusting, sweeping, and scrubbing.
"As much as I would absolutely love to stay and help you pick out curtains or find you a nice frilly, pink apron or whatever, I have to go to work," Ryo said, deadpan, as he pocketed his keys. "I need to go back into the city to get my work clothes and then come all the way back here to go to work just down the street. Way to waste my gas, Yamashita."
Tomohisa stretched and set his broom down. "Why don't you just move in here with me?"
Ryo paused en route to the door, brow furrowing. "What, seriously?"
Tomohisa shrugged. "Yeah, why not?"
Ryo laughed as he tugged the front door open and made his way to his car. Tomohisa stepped out onto the porch and shouted after him, "So is that a yes or a no?"
Ryo waved casually over one shoulder and called back, "Yeah, why not?"
He showed up the next afternoon with bags in his hands and a smirk on his face. "What, no 'welcome home, dear'?"
---
Ryo worked full time as a line cook at a family owned restaurant just up the road. He swore by their food (and swore it wasn't just because he was the one that prepared it) and encouraged Tomohisa to come for lunch one day. However, Ryo felt the need to warn Tomohisa about the owner/host of the restaurant, Koyama. Apparently being a recent college graduate left him with plenty of time on his hands and plenty to talk about with anyone willing to listen.
Koyama was friendly, to say the least. He started chattering on a mile a minute from the moment Tomohisa walked in the door. Tomohisa felt like he already knew Koyama's life story. At the very least, he now knew that:
1) Koyama's parents had passed away a few years ago ("--but it was okay, you know, because I had my sister--")
2) Koyama's sister had gotten married recently ("--and it was a beautiful wedding, really it was--")
3) Koyama's sister was now pregnant ("I love kids, they're just so cute, and it's going to be so much fun being an uncle, and--")
Tomohisa thought Ryo was right when he said Koyama took some getting used to. It wasn't that Tomohisa found him annoying; he just talked so damn fast.
Koyama and Tomohisa were bonding over a recent TV show when someone hooked a finger in Koyama's shirt collar and yanked. The boy flashed a winning smile at Tomohisa. "I'm sorry, sir, is he bothering you? Tegoshi forgot to give him decaf instead of regular," he said, shooting a look at another waiter who stuck his tongue out in exchange.
"No, he's fine," Tomohisa said with a casual wave of his hand.
Koyama wriggled around. "Shige, let go!"
Shige rolled his eyes and loosened his grip. "Speaking of decaf, can I get you a refill?" He gestured at Tomohisa's nearly empty coffee cup.
"Yeah, that'd be great."
---
When business fell to a lull after lunch, Shige and Ryo joined Koyama and Tomohisa at the table.
"So you guys are looking into apartments?" Tomohisa asked.
Koyama nodded. "I don't want to crowd my sister and brother-in-law, especially with the baby coming. Shige just wants to move out of his parents' house, you know? I thought 'wow, wouldn't it be great if Shige and I could live together?' And so I--"
Shige elbowed him in the ribs. "Koyama."
"What are you looking into? One or two bedrooms?" Tomohisa asked.
Shige shrugged.
"Doesn't matter, I suppose," Koyama said.
Ryo flashed a smug grin at Shige. "How very heterosexual of you, Kato."
Shige raised his eyebrows. "Says the man who just moved into a beach house with his best friend?"
Ryo shot him a glare. "We have separate bedrooms."
Tomohisa settled back in his chair and pursed his lips, thinking, as Ryo and Shige started bickering, and Koyama asked them to stop fighting, please. He took another sip of his coffee and spoke up.
"Why don't you guys just move in with us?"
Ryo and Shige paused mid-squabble and Koyama mid-flail. Ryo mouthed something that seemed to be threatening bodily harm.
"I mean, we've got a couple more rooms," he continued. "You'd have to pay rent, of course, but it'd be a hell of a lot cheaper than getting an apartment."
Koyama looked like he was on the verge of tears. He shook Tomohisa's hand vigorously. "Oh, thank you so much, Yamashita-kun! Thank you!"
"Koyama, stop blubbering," Shige said, sounding exasperated.
They moved in a week later.
---
Tomohisa wasn't quite sure how Tegoshi and Massu ended up moving in. Well, he's had the story told to him, but he mostly remembers waking up with the worst hangover of his life, stumbling out into the hall and being greeted with the sight of Tegoshi and that Masuda kid (whom he'd seen working at the local tourist trap) dragging suitcases up the stairs.
"Good morning, Yamashita-kun!" Tegoshi chirped. "Thanks so much for letting us stay!"
Tomohisa went back to bed.
---
"Kei-chan, Massu, and I are making smoothies! Who wants one?" Tegoshi called from the kitchen.
Ryo's hands paused on his guitar. "Who let Tegoshi use the blender? Kato, go supervise."
"What? Why me?" Shige looked up from his homework and pulled his glasses off.
"Because I said so."
Shige went back to his homework.
Ryo folded his arms over the curve of his guitar and leaned forward to make eyes at Shige. "Because you're oh so responsible and good looking and oh, gee, I wish I could be just like you, Kato Shigeaki."
Shige set his pencil down, looking vaguely sick. "Okay. Okay, I'll go supervise. Just-- don't do that ever again," he said.
"Oh, and hey, get me one," Ryo called after him, already retrieving his pick from the fret board.
A crash sounded from the kitchen and Koyama shouted, "Don't worry! I'll fix it!" covering Shige's admonishment of "Koyama, you moron!"
Tomohisa's head snapped up at the sound.
"Ryo. Hey, Ryo-chan," he said, a bit dazed.
Ryo continued to pluck out a melody on his guitar. "What?"
"Why do I have a house full of people?"
Ryo set his guitar aside and gave him a look. "Because you are an idiot who has an obvious problem when it comes to randomly inviting people to move in. I hope you get that problem taken care of because there's no way I'm sharing a room with anyone. Even you, Yamashita." He rolled his eyes and picked his guitar back up, muttering something about needing smarter friends.
Tomohisa heard the whirr of the blender, something hitting the wall, a couple shouts, and an "Oh my god, you guys. You have to put the lid on first."
"Huh," Tomohisa said. "That's weird."
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Poll Team AU - This Old House