It's a match! (Chapter 3)
“So I would recommend making a mix of whipped cream and yoghurt for summer cake filling. Ganache has its merits for chocolate creams though, but they might be a bit heavy. If you add spices, it’s perfect for winter though, in my opinion at least. If you want to add fruits, try to mix in some lemon or lime juice, it is very refreshing. I hope this information could be helpful and leave a comment if you try any filling out and which you liked best.”
“My favourite is chocolate!” Jun’s flatmate piqued in, and Jun rolled his eyes in annoyance even if a smile played around his lips.
“Yeah, because you love anything as long as it has chocolate.”
“Chocolate is the best, after all.”
“That’s all then. Until next time,” Jun said and waved cutely at the camera.
Nino giggled when the flatmate waved as well, and the last shot was a peace sign made by him.
-
“Your mom will be delighted with this cake. It tastes great,” Aiba said with a smile as he finished his piece of cake. “The chocolate on top fits with the strawberries.”
“Good,” Nino breathed and grinned slightly as he ate his piece of cake. It was good, not too sweet or bland, and the chocolate drizzle he had put on top of the cake gave it a little bit of crunch. “Mom likes chocolate, but I thought fruit would be more refreshing.”
“And not as sweet so that you can enjoy the cake as well,” Aiba teased.
“And that,” Nino agreed and stuck out his tongue. “You’re awful.”
“I love you too. You do realise that you will have to pay for the ingredients for the birthday cake, right?”
“Yes, yes. I won’t make you pay for that one.”
“Are you nervous?”
Nino shrugged. He was, of course, nervous that something would go wrong when he made the cake for his mother, but he would follow the recipe he had together with the notes he had taken from Jun’s videos. And if it didn’t work… Well, there was nothing he could do then. But he was pretty optimistic that he would do well. He was not stupid, after all.
“Do you want to come for her birthday? I’m sure mom wouldn’t mind.”
Aiba hummed but then shook his head with a chuckle. “Nah, I’ll have Sho-chan come over for a home date,” he sang. “I need to use the time when you are not home for once.”
Nino shoved him to the side and grimaced. “Don’t do anything disgusting when I’m gone.”
“You’re just jealous because you have not such a great, perfect boyfriend like my Sho-chan.”
“I’m pretty happy not to have him as a boyfriend. His schedule making is crazy. And I can’t understand how he can stand you, and you can stand him.”
Aiba grinned wider and put his chin on his hands as he stared straight ahead with a pleased sigh. “I sometimes either delete or hide his schedules. It’s fun. He is all flustered for a while, but he forgets soon when I start to distract him. He is fun if you distract him. And he knows a lot. It’s fun to go on trips with him.”
“Nice a tour-guide,” Nino said and rolled his eyes before he laughed when Aiba shoved him slightly and tried to throw him to the floor but didn’t manage.
“At least I’m not as unlucky as you and all my crushes are straight.”
“They are not all straight. Hell, you are talking as if I never have dates or relationships.”
“It has been a while.”
Nino shrugged uncomfortably. “I was busy with work and studying, so there was no time for me to fall for someone. It’s getting more relaxed soon so it should be better then,” he mumbled and tried hard not to blush when beautiful, tanned abs came to his mind at those words.
True it had been a while since he had been with someone. Maybe that was why he was so fixated on that flatmate of Jun. He should find someone for a one-night stand, but…
Nino wrinkled his nose at the thought of that. It was just not for him to have one-night stands. It was not fulfilling for him, which was a pain sometimes. Many men he was interested in, were not necessarily straight but more interested in just having fun than a relationship. But to Nino, sex was only then fulfilling if he was able to let himself fall entirely.
He groaned at his thought and realised that he felt down now. He pushed Aiba again and grumbled. “You can clean up I am in my room,” he declared and ignored Aiba’s sputtering in confusion. He knew it was unfair, but he couldn’t help being angry somehow.
He sat down on his desk and tried to concentrate on the essay he had to finish until the end of the month. He would like to watch another video, but there was no need, and even Nino was smart enough to realise that it was dangerous infatuation right now. God, his life was a mess!
-
“Congratulations, mom!” Nino yelled when he entered his family home.
He grinned when he kissed his mother’s cheek and presented her with the cake box.
“I made your present myself,” he declared. “And I brought you a flowerpot as well.”
“Thank you, sweetheart. It looks great,” she said as she looked at the roll cake for a second and then smiled down at the yellow miniature rose Nino had brought her. Nino knew that his mother didn’t like welting flowers, so a flowerpot sounded like a good idea. So he was extra happy that he was right when he saw her delighted look.
He followed his mother inside to greet his sister and the rest of her family and then sat down at the family table for a great afternoon full of laughter and talks about their private life and what they had done the last days until his nephew was bored. Nino offered to take him together with his old dog to the park so that he could play on the playground, and Nino was looking forward to spending time with his dog.
“Shota, do you want to go with your uncle outside or stay inside with us?” his sister asked and knelt in front of her son.
Shota stared at her for a second and then pointed at Nino.
“Okay, listen to your uncle, right?”
“Uncle Kazu, listen,” Shota repeated, and Nino smiled a second.
“We’ll be fine, nee-san,” he promised. “We’ll come back in time for dinner. So you can take a break.”
“Right,” she nodded, and Nino moved towards his nephew.
“We go out to the park with the big spider. And we’ll take Haru. So get ready.”
“Go big spider. Goodbye,” Shota agreed and waved to the rest of the adults as he turned around to get his shoes and jacket. Nino grinned and jumped to his feet. He should probably be fast; otherwise, it could happen that Shota would just leave ahead. He whistled for Haru who came obediently and slipped into his shoes as he put the leash on the dog.
“Shota, hand or leash?” Nino asked, offering him his hand while also swinging the leash as they were outside. Shota looked from one thing to the other and in the end, grabbed the lead in the middle.
Nino nodded and off they went to the park. He was glad that Haru was already used to be slower whenever they were out with Shota and knew how to bring himself in between the boy and dangerous situations if needed.
“Good boy,” Nino praised the dog as they were at the playground, and the dog lied down on the paved ground away from the sand and playground equipment.
“Good boy, thank you,” Shota parroted and then walked off to let the sand ran through his hands and fingers. Nino sighed and settled down on the bench close to Haru as they both watched Shota play alone. Only when the boy finally decided to go to the climbing frame did Nino stand up and follow to make sure that Shota would not panic. He was glad that today was a calm day, and there were not many people around so that there was not much to stress Shota, which was nice.
Nino made sure to keep an eye on Haru, Shota and the time. It took a while until Shota was ready to climb back down, wobbling only slightly, but allowed Nino to help him, before running off.
Nino groaned and ran over to stand in front of Shota and motioned him to stop. Shota came to a standstill moving his weight from one foot to the other and swayed slightly as he tried to look over Nino’s shoulder.
“Please slide.”
“Shota may go to the slide for five more times. Then we go back to Haru, and then we go back ho… to momma,” Nino said, catching himself just in time.
If he had told Shota, they would go home and taking him to his grandparents' place. There would be problems. He made sure to keep Shota’s attention and showing him what he meant.
Shota stared at him for a second, before mumbling something about five times and walked off to the slide. Nino watched him play for a few more minutes before Shota stood after his fifth turn and walked over to Haru.
“Good job, goodbye,” Shota said, smiling and Nino nodded with a chuckle.
“Good job. Now hand or lead?”
This time Shota took Nino’s hand in his own and Nino felt warmth pooling in the pit of his stomach as each time when Shota took his hand if he had a choice. They made their way back slowly with Haru sniffling here and there and Shota walking beside Nino, looking around whenever they needed to stop because of Haru.
“Haru sniffle, we wait. Haru finished, we walk,” he sang.
“You are right.”
“No yanking the lead. Yanking hurts,” Shota continued with his song, and Nino grinned.
He had made up too many songs for Shota when he had been younger because it seemed like things got stuck easier in his mind if there was a song involved.
They made their way slowly through the park to the exit when Shota suddenly exclaimed and yanked his arm free from Nino. Nino swore as his nephew was fast when something caught his eyes. “Haru!” he called, pulling slightly at the lead to get Haru’s attention and then followed Shota with quick steps.
Luckily Shota squatted down just around the corner his eyes focusing on a canvas. “Haru!” he yelled when Nino came to a stand beside him.
“You can’t run away,” Nino scolded with a stern face, sighing when Shota stared at him for a second before he lowered his eyes and nodded.
“Sorry.”
Nino nodded and patted his head. “Good boy,” he said and smiled when Haru pushed his snout against Shota’s cheek until the boy shrieked. Shota rocked himself, his eyes back on the picture.
“Haru, ants!” Shota repeated touching the canvas and leaving a smudge of dirt. Nino paled slightly and held his wrist to stop him.
“I’m sorry. Shota loves Haru and watching ants,” Nino apologised to the man that was staring at them dumbfounded. Nino blushed slightly at that and bowed deeply. “I hope he hasn’t destroyed it.”
“Ah, it’s just for fun,” the other said, and Nino found a strange shiver running over his back at the soft, warm voice.
Shota yanked at Nino’s hand to have him let go and moved a bit faster as he grumbled.
“Sorry, Shota. We have to go to momma, remember?”
“Please give.”
“Shota it’s not ours,” Nino said, rubbing his face.
“Please give.”
“No.”
Shota’s face scrunched up, and Nino sighed. He had not even any idea what to distract Shota with right now.
“You can play with your doll at momma’s home,” he said and stood. “Come on. We go home.”
Shota had tears in his eyes, but Nino tried hard to stay strict as he motioned him that he couldn’t just take the picture.
“Uhm…” the voice added itself to them and Nino blinked as he blushed.
“Ah sorry, Shota has difficulty to understand that he can’t get everything,” Nino mumbled.
“Please give,” Shota said again, now looking between his uncle and the stranger who stared at them in confusion.
“If you just tell him no like that he’ll understand.”
“But actually… I have no use for it, if he likes it he can have it,” the man said with a warm smile. “At home, it would just lie around until my roommate makes me give it away, or it breaks.
Nino blinked and stared back at the hopeful look on Shota’s face as he stared at the stranger and back to the picture. The dog looked a lot like Haru (which was mostly down to it being a Shiba Inu, duh) and it was cute how the dog sniffled at a line of ants carrying leaves. You could see a yellow lead going from the blue-collar of the dog and just the tips of some fingers on one corner, but that was it.
The man smiled and squatted in front of Shota who cried out in surprise and swayed slightly, but still held out his hands as he had been taught.
“Please give.”
“Of course, here you go, Shota, take good care of it,” the man said, still with a smile on his face as he handed the canvas over. There was something about that smile that Nino thought was familiar, but it was probably that he had seen the man in the park before. Shota took the canvas and held it tightly.
“Good boy, thank you!”
“Yeah, good job. Now let’s go to momma. Give me the canvas so you can hold to the lead, Shota,” Nino reminded the boy who handed over the canvas when Nino motioned him and took the leash in one hand. “Say bye-bye.”
“Good job. Goodbye.”
“Thank you, goodbye,” Nino said before hurrying to follow Shota who was already leaving and therefore slightly pulling at the leash for Haru to move.
It was late when he was finally at home in the evening, he laid in bed and turned to his side, thinking about how he should go to the park again the next day to explain to the man what had happened fully and thank him again for the picture.
He probably should also pay him something for his kindness, because he was sure the painting had to be a lot of work to give it away like that.
Nino buried his head in the cushions and yelled slightly when his mind swam with pictures of the gentle eyes and warm voice of the stranger and the beautiful fingers, great body and delighted moans from Jun’s flatmate.
“My favourite is chocolate!” Jun’s flatmate piqued in, and Jun rolled his eyes in annoyance even if a smile played around his lips.
“Yeah, because you love anything as long as it has chocolate.”
“Chocolate is the best, after all.”
“That’s all then. Until next time,” Jun said and waved cutely at the camera.
Nino giggled when the flatmate waved as well, and the last shot was a peace sign made by him.
-
“Your mom will be delighted with this cake. It tastes great,” Aiba said with a smile as he finished his piece of cake. “The chocolate on top fits with the strawberries.”
“Good,” Nino breathed and grinned slightly as he ate his piece of cake. It was good, not too sweet or bland, and the chocolate drizzle he had put on top of the cake gave it a little bit of crunch. “Mom likes chocolate, but I thought fruit would be more refreshing.”
“And not as sweet so that you can enjoy the cake as well,” Aiba teased.
“And that,” Nino agreed and stuck out his tongue. “You’re awful.”
“I love you too. You do realise that you will have to pay for the ingredients for the birthday cake, right?”
“Yes, yes. I won’t make you pay for that one.”
“Are you nervous?”
Nino shrugged. He was, of course, nervous that something would go wrong when he made the cake for his mother, but he would follow the recipe he had together with the notes he had taken from Jun’s videos. And if it didn’t work… Well, there was nothing he could do then. But he was pretty optimistic that he would do well. He was not stupid, after all.
“Do you want to come for her birthday? I’m sure mom wouldn’t mind.”
Aiba hummed but then shook his head with a chuckle. “Nah, I’ll have Sho-chan come over for a home date,” he sang. “I need to use the time when you are not home for once.”
Nino shoved him to the side and grimaced. “Don’t do anything disgusting when I’m gone.”
“You’re just jealous because you have not such a great, perfect boyfriend like my Sho-chan.”
“I’m pretty happy not to have him as a boyfriend. His schedule making is crazy. And I can’t understand how he can stand you, and you can stand him.”
Aiba grinned wider and put his chin on his hands as he stared straight ahead with a pleased sigh. “I sometimes either delete or hide his schedules. It’s fun. He is all flustered for a while, but he forgets soon when I start to distract him. He is fun if you distract him. And he knows a lot. It’s fun to go on trips with him.”
“Nice a tour-guide,” Nino said and rolled his eyes before he laughed when Aiba shoved him slightly and tried to throw him to the floor but didn’t manage.
“At least I’m not as unlucky as you and all my crushes are straight.”
“They are not all straight. Hell, you are talking as if I never have dates or relationships.”
“It has been a while.”
Nino shrugged uncomfortably. “I was busy with work and studying, so there was no time for me to fall for someone. It’s getting more relaxed soon so it should be better then,” he mumbled and tried hard not to blush when beautiful, tanned abs came to his mind at those words.
True it had been a while since he had been with someone. Maybe that was why he was so fixated on that flatmate of Jun. He should find someone for a one-night stand, but…
Nino wrinkled his nose at the thought of that. It was just not for him to have one-night stands. It was not fulfilling for him, which was a pain sometimes. Many men he was interested in, were not necessarily straight but more interested in just having fun than a relationship. But to Nino, sex was only then fulfilling if he was able to let himself fall entirely.
He groaned at his thought and realised that he felt down now. He pushed Aiba again and grumbled. “You can clean up I am in my room,” he declared and ignored Aiba’s sputtering in confusion. He knew it was unfair, but he couldn’t help being angry somehow.
He sat down on his desk and tried to concentrate on the essay he had to finish until the end of the month. He would like to watch another video, but there was no need, and even Nino was smart enough to realise that it was dangerous infatuation right now. God, his life was a mess!
-
“Congratulations, mom!” Nino yelled when he entered his family home.
He grinned when he kissed his mother’s cheek and presented her with the cake box.
“I made your present myself,” he declared. “And I brought you a flowerpot as well.”
“Thank you, sweetheart. It looks great,” she said as she looked at the roll cake for a second and then smiled down at the yellow miniature rose Nino had brought her. Nino knew that his mother didn’t like welting flowers, so a flowerpot sounded like a good idea. So he was extra happy that he was right when he saw her delighted look.
He followed his mother inside to greet his sister and the rest of her family and then sat down at the family table for a great afternoon full of laughter and talks about their private life and what they had done the last days until his nephew was bored. Nino offered to take him together with his old dog to the park so that he could play on the playground, and Nino was looking forward to spending time with his dog.
“Shota, do you want to go with your uncle outside or stay inside with us?” his sister asked and knelt in front of her son.
Shota stared at her for a second and then pointed at Nino.
“Okay, listen to your uncle, right?”
“Uncle Kazu, listen,” Shota repeated, and Nino smiled a second.
“We’ll be fine, nee-san,” he promised. “We’ll come back in time for dinner. So you can take a break.”
“Right,” she nodded, and Nino moved towards his nephew.
“We go out to the park with the big spider. And we’ll take Haru. So get ready.”
“Go big spider. Goodbye,” Shota agreed and waved to the rest of the adults as he turned around to get his shoes and jacket. Nino grinned and jumped to his feet. He should probably be fast; otherwise, it could happen that Shota would just leave ahead. He whistled for Haru who came obediently and slipped into his shoes as he put the leash on the dog.
“Shota, hand or leash?” Nino asked, offering him his hand while also swinging the leash as they were outside. Shota looked from one thing to the other and in the end, grabbed the lead in the middle.
Nino nodded and off they went to the park. He was glad that Haru was already used to be slower whenever they were out with Shota and knew how to bring himself in between the boy and dangerous situations if needed.
“Good boy,” Nino praised the dog as they were at the playground, and the dog lied down on the paved ground away from the sand and playground equipment.
“Good boy, thank you,” Shota parroted and then walked off to let the sand ran through his hands and fingers. Nino sighed and settled down on the bench close to Haru as they both watched Shota play alone. Only when the boy finally decided to go to the climbing frame did Nino stand up and follow to make sure that Shota would not panic. He was glad that today was a calm day, and there were not many people around so that there was not much to stress Shota, which was nice.
Nino made sure to keep an eye on Haru, Shota and the time. It took a while until Shota was ready to climb back down, wobbling only slightly, but allowed Nino to help him, before running off.
Nino groaned and ran over to stand in front of Shota and motioned him to stop. Shota came to a standstill moving his weight from one foot to the other and swayed slightly as he tried to look over Nino’s shoulder.
“Please slide.”
“Shota may go to the slide for five more times. Then we go back to Haru, and then we go back ho… to momma,” Nino said, catching himself just in time.
If he had told Shota, they would go home and taking him to his grandparents' place. There would be problems. He made sure to keep Shota’s attention and showing him what he meant.
Shota stared at him for a second, before mumbling something about five times and walked off to the slide. Nino watched him play for a few more minutes before Shota stood after his fifth turn and walked over to Haru.
“Good job, goodbye,” Shota said, smiling and Nino nodded with a chuckle.
“Good job. Now hand or lead?”
This time Shota took Nino’s hand in his own and Nino felt warmth pooling in the pit of his stomach as each time when Shota took his hand if he had a choice. They made their way back slowly with Haru sniffling here and there and Shota walking beside Nino, looking around whenever they needed to stop because of Haru.
“Haru sniffle, we wait. Haru finished, we walk,” he sang.
“You are right.”
“No yanking the lead. Yanking hurts,” Shota continued with his song, and Nino grinned.
He had made up too many songs for Shota when he had been younger because it seemed like things got stuck easier in his mind if there was a song involved.
They made their way slowly through the park to the exit when Shota suddenly exclaimed and yanked his arm free from Nino. Nino swore as his nephew was fast when something caught his eyes. “Haru!” he called, pulling slightly at the lead to get Haru’s attention and then followed Shota with quick steps.
Luckily Shota squatted down just around the corner his eyes focusing on a canvas. “Haru!” he yelled when Nino came to a stand beside him.
“You can’t run away,” Nino scolded with a stern face, sighing when Shota stared at him for a second before he lowered his eyes and nodded.
“Sorry.”
Nino nodded and patted his head. “Good boy,” he said and smiled when Haru pushed his snout against Shota’s cheek until the boy shrieked. Shota rocked himself, his eyes back on the picture.
“Haru, ants!” Shota repeated touching the canvas and leaving a smudge of dirt. Nino paled slightly and held his wrist to stop him.
“I’m sorry. Shota loves Haru and watching ants,” Nino apologised to the man that was staring at them dumbfounded. Nino blushed slightly at that and bowed deeply. “I hope he hasn’t destroyed it.”
“Ah, it’s just for fun,” the other said, and Nino found a strange shiver running over his back at the soft, warm voice.
Shota yanked at Nino’s hand to have him let go and moved a bit faster as he grumbled.
“Sorry, Shota. We have to go to momma, remember?”
“Please give.”
“Shota it’s not ours,” Nino said, rubbing his face.
“Please give.”
“No.”
Shota’s face scrunched up, and Nino sighed. He had not even any idea what to distract Shota with right now.
“You can play with your doll at momma’s home,” he said and stood. “Come on. We go home.”
Shota had tears in his eyes, but Nino tried hard to stay strict as he motioned him that he couldn’t just take the picture.
“Uhm…” the voice added itself to them and Nino blinked as he blushed.
“Ah sorry, Shota has difficulty to understand that he can’t get everything,” Nino mumbled.
“Please give,” Shota said again, now looking between his uncle and the stranger who stared at them in confusion.
“If you just tell him no like that he’ll understand.”
“But actually… I have no use for it, if he likes it he can have it,” the man said with a warm smile. “At home, it would just lie around until my roommate makes me give it away, or it breaks.
Nino blinked and stared back at the hopeful look on Shota’s face as he stared at the stranger and back to the picture. The dog looked a lot like Haru (which was mostly down to it being a Shiba Inu, duh) and it was cute how the dog sniffled at a line of ants carrying leaves. You could see a yellow lead going from the blue-collar of the dog and just the tips of some fingers on one corner, but that was it.
The man smiled and squatted in front of Shota who cried out in surprise and swayed slightly, but still held out his hands as he had been taught.
“Please give.”
“Of course, here you go, Shota, take good care of it,” the man said, still with a smile on his face as he handed the canvas over. There was something about that smile that Nino thought was familiar, but it was probably that he had seen the man in the park before. Shota took the canvas and held it tightly.
“Good boy, thank you!”
“Yeah, good job. Now let’s go to momma. Give me the canvas so you can hold to the lead, Shota,” Nino reminded the boy who handed over the canvas when Nino motioned him and took the leash in one hand. “Say bye-bye.”
“Good job. Goodbye.”
“Thank you, goodbye,” Nino said before hurrying to follow Shota who was already leaving and therefore slightly pulling at the leash for Haru to move.
It was late when he was finally at home in the evening, he laid in bed and turned to his side, thinking about how he should go to the park again the next day to explain to the man what had happened fully and thank him again for the picture.
He probably should also pay him something for his kindness, because he was sure the painting had to be a lot of work to give it away like that.
Nino buried his head in the cushions and yelled slightly when his mind swam with pictures of the gentle eyes and warm voice of the stranger and the beautiful fingers, great body and delighted moans from Jun’s flatmate.