JE/NewS- "Taking the Edge Off"
Whatever, it is the 16th in NY.
Title: Taking the Edge Off
Universe: JE/NewS
Theme/Topic: RyoxShige stuffs
Rating: PG-15?
Character/Pairing/s: NewS (with RyoxShige thrown in and mentions of Jin)
Warnings/Spoilers: OOC, stupid, CRACK.
Word Count: 2,192
Summary: Sequel (of sorts) to “The One Step Program”- Ryo finds something that helps fight the withdrawal.
Dedication: Happy birthday pinkpapyrus! I’m sorry this is not really shippy-shippy, but Ryo being evil counts, right? Also, thanks to Ann for the many edits in helping me make sense of this.
A/N: So I kind of wanted to do a sequel to “The One Step Program” for a while now but never really had an idea so I didn’t force it. But now I kind of have an idea, and hopefully it will turn out without me wanting to rip my hair out of my head. We’ll see. Clearly I know nothing about tobacco addiction, okay? Pretend that we’re in a fantasy world where my assumptions are right or something. Also, still don’t know anything for sure about those rumors of Tegoshi smoking and/or Pi only smoking for work so whatever. If I’m wrong just consider this an AU where Tegoshi doesn’t smoke and Pi totally does. XD
Disclaimer: No harm is meant by this!
Day one is not so bad.
Ryo sees Jin and Yamapi standing outside on the balcony goofing off and smoking together just like clockwork during their routine lunch hour cigarette break; he turns his nose up at them and tells himself that he’s quitting and that it will be easy, because he is a Sexy Osaka Man and has the willpower to accomplish anything he puts his mind to. Currently, he is putting all of his willpower into doing whatever is necessary to guarantee that what happened at yesterday’s photo shoot never repeats itself. Tegoshi’s look of utter repulsion at Ryo’s smell is not something he wants to see on the kid’s face ever again.
Never wanting to be helpless underneath Tegoshi ever again is simply a subsection within that category (one of many, in fact) and thus, does not warrant any specific mention. Or conscious recollection if at all possible.
The bottom line is that he’s quitting and that it’s going to be easy. Because he said so.
“It’s not an addiction,” Ryo says off-handedly to Koyama some hours later, when he and Shige are about to go outside together for their afternoon cigarette break, “It’s just a bad habit.”
“Ryo-chan is very manly,” Koyama replies dutifully, admiring Ryo’s resolve.
Shige just snorts and heads over to the balcony first. “Good luck.”
Ryo looks superior at the both of them when they return five minutes later; Koyama is chewing gum and spraying himself with Febreeze to get the tobacco scent off (so Tegoshi won’t yell) while Shige doesn’t care because Tegoshi doesn’t cuddle with him that much anyway.
When Shige walks past Ryo unapologetically smelling like cigarette smoke and cologne, Ryo’s nostrils twitch a little, but he manages to keep that superior expression of his firmly in place because he is a Sexy Osaka Man who is kicking a bad habit, not an addiction.
He stays as far away from Shige as he can during the rest of rehearsal and makes it through to the end with his dignity firmly intact.
Day one isn’t perfect, but it isn’t so bad either.
~~~~~
Day two sucks ass.
Ryo sees Jin and Yamapi taking their cigarette break at lunch-the one he used to be a part of alongside them every day-and glares at them through the sliding door moodily, wishing for all sorts of horrible things to happen to them for being inconsiderate and doing that in front of him like it’s nothing.
Yamapi sees him staring and waves cheerfully at him through the glass. Ryo snarls back and stalks into the dressing room so that he can bury his head in the couch cushions and seethe.
Tegoshi sees him then, not outside with Yamapi and Jin, and he beams and curls up next to Ryo on the sofa, obliviously asking the older boy how well the whole quitting thing is going.
Ryo would yell and throw things for such an insensitive question except it’s Tegoshi, so he just glowers and lets Tegoshi rest his head against his shoulder instead.
That afternoon, when Koyama and Shige get up to go outside for their cigarette break, Shige eyes a gloomy Ryo warily over his shoulder before sliding out of the room with a shake of his head. Koyama looks sympathetic and makes sure he has plenty of gum on hand for when he gets back, out of courtesy.
When they come back inside five minutes later, Koyama smells like spearmint and Febreeze while Shige smells faintly of cologne and a lot like delicious, delicious tobacco.
Ryo watches Shige intently as he walks by and Shige notices, giving him an odd look in return before he starts to change in preparation for dance rehearsal.
Ryo glares at everyone for the rest of the day and hates himself a little bit when he ends up forcibly switching places with Massu in the formation so he can smell Shige better.
Day two is not anywhere near as easy as day one.
~~~~~
Day three isn’t any better than day two, and when Ryo overhears Koyama whispering to Shige that maybe they shouldn’t take cigarette breaks at work out of courtesy and support for Ryo’s decisions, he’s almost relieved when Shige snorts and says, “I’m not trying to quit,” before stubbornly going outside for his smoke.
Koyama remains inside looking a little bit twitchy for the rest of the afternoon and Shige enjoys his cigarette break because he is not going to be (or is going to try not to be) another one of those people who simply does things in compliance with Tegoshi’s whims.
On day three, when Shige comes back from smoking on the balcony, Ryo smells cigarettes and cologne again and has to count backwards from ten very slowly to keep himself from pinning Shige up against the nearest wall and burying his face into Shige’s neck so he can smell him better.
He tells himself over and over again that it’s not an addiction, just a bad habit.
~~~~~
On day four Koyama has at least convinced Yamapi not to smoke while they’re at work with Ryo; it leaves Shige alone outside that afternoon, when he takes his cigarette break before their next scheduled photo shoot is slated to begin.
There is a dark storm cloud hovering above Ryo’s head in the hours before that; everyone notices it except for Tegoshi (or Tegoshi does notice and just knows he’s immune). It lasts all the way until the moment when Shige comes back inside after his cigarette break and they’re made to pose for pictures together.
In the middle of the first roll of group shots Ryo finds himself leaning forward into Shige’s hair unconsciously; the photographer thinks he’s being cute and asks Shige to tilt his head to the side a little, so it almost looks like Ryo is nosing his cheek instead.
“What are you doing?” Shige hisses nervously, around his fake smile.
“Shut up and keep smiling, moron,” Ryo murmurs, and takes several deep breaths pressed right against Shige’s hair.
Shige turns bright red somewhere underneath all that makeup.
~~~~~
On day five Koyama suggests to Ryo, very carefully, that he might want to try using Nicotine patches to help him quit; they’re supposed to curb the cravings and make the withdrawal symptoms a little bit better. He researched it on the internet just for Ryo-chan last night.
“It’s not an addiction!!” Ryo snarls back stubbornly, and his tone is so severe it sends Koyama skittering to the other side of the room, where he can hide behind the safety of Yamapi’s peacefully oblivious expression.
~~~~~
“It is clearly an addiction!” Shige yells at Ryo indignantly on day six, when they are in the bathroom together after his last cigarette break and he’s mysteriously been shoved up against the wall, both of Ryo’s hands fisted in his shirt and Ryo’s nose pressed right up against his throat.
“Shut up,” Ryo says automatically, and Shige groans when his lips tickle the skin along Shige’s neckline.
He closes his eyes, counts backwards from ten slowly, and doesn’t understand why he is always the one who gets pulled into his groupmates’ ridiculousness time and time again.
~~~~~
On day seven Koyama buys Ryo a box of those Nicotine patches he’d been talking about two days ago and surreptitiously leaves them in Ryo’s bag with a little gift bow and a gift tag attached; the tag has an inspirational message and a lot of smiley faces and hearts drawn all over it.
Shige is almost relieved when he walks into the room that morning and sees Ryo holding the package while reading the instructions on the back of the box carefully.
The relief lasts up until the moment that Ryo makes a face, mouthing, “It’s not an addiction,” to himself darkly before he throws the box away.
Two hours later, when Shige comes back inside from smoking on the balcony, he sees Ryo sitting on the couch by himself glaring at nothing in particular; he’s shaking just the tiniest bit and drumming his fingers against his thigh over and over again, probably harder than he ought to be. Shige sighs and pulls out the box of Nicotine patches he’d salvaged from the trash earlier when no one was looking. He marches up to Ryo and shakes the box in the older boy’s face.
“Sometimes,” Shige starts, trying to sound gentle but probably coming off as impatient instead, “it’s not so bad to use something that will help you curb the cravings.”
A moment.
Then Ryo looks up, first at the box, then at Shige.
And after a very long, very deep breath, he slowly stands and takes the Nicotine patches.
Shige sighs in relief and is about to say something appropriately encouraging to his groupmate about the wisdom behind his decision, but before he can, Ryo growls, “It’s not an addiction,” again and grabs Shige’s wrist.
Five minutes after Shige’s last cigarette break, Ryo pulls him into the bathroom.
~~~~~
Down the hall, the bathroom door slams shut behind them just as Ryo fists both hands in Shige’s shirt and shoves Shige’s back against the wall between the sinks. When Ryo crushes their mouths together Shige surmises that it’s because he’s not satisfied with just catching the faint scent of smoke on Shige’s hair and clothes anymore; he needs something stronger.
Shige isn’t a doctor, but he’s fairly certain that this irrational kind of behavior is a symptom of addiction.
He would say so too, except Ryo’s tongue is currently in his mouth.
~~~~~
When the two of them return to the dressing room some time later, Ryo is looking much less twitchy than he’d been earlier. In fact, he almost seems serene for the rest of the day.
Koyama is relieved, and thinks proudly to himself that he’s glad the gift he’d brought earlier seems to be working for Ryo-chan exactly like he’d hoped it would.
In the meantime, Shige can’t believe it when no one notices that there is a brand new, unopened box of Nicotine patches sitting innocently in the restroom trashcan.
~~~~~
On day eleven of Ryo’s campaign to quit smoking, Koyama’s member-ai senses finally start to tingle over someone other than Ryo and he begins to get concerned over Shige instinctively instead. He follows Shige out onto the balcony when he thinks Ryo isn’t looking that afternoon, to try and find out what’s been wrong with his best friend over the past few days. “Shige,” he says worriedly, “Shige, aren’t you smoking a lot more than you used to? Is it stress? Are you really stressed lately?”
“Yes!” Shige shouts, puffing on his cigarette darkly. He glares balefully at Tegoshi through the sliding glass door when he sees the youngest member bouncing by on his way back to the dressing room from lunch. “I am very stressed!”
“Is it work? All the dramas you’re doing lately must make you tired, ne,” Koyama says, looking sympathetic.
Shige fights the urge to roll his eyes. “It’s not work! It’s the members!” he declares, and stubs his cigarette out on the balcony railing.
“Eeeeh?!” Koyama shrieks.
Shige ignores him and storms back inside.
~~~~~
“It’s not an addiction,” Shige tells himself five minutes later, murmuring against Ryo’s mouth as he gets pushed up against the bathroom wall.
Ryo is just glad that Shige’s finally starting to get it.
~~~~~
At a group magazine interview towards the end of the month, Tegoshi cheerfully says that the thing he’s been most proud of lately is the fact that he helped Ryo quit smoking over the last three weeks. “Yappari, Ryo-tan’s definitely the most adult-like in NewS when it comes to his determination!” the youngest member effuses, and rests his head on Ryo’s shoulder looking very self-satisfied.
Ryo pets his hair indulgently.
“That’s an impressive achievement for just a few weeks work,” the interviewer agrees, and turns to Ryo expectantly for the follow up. “Was it very difficult for you to quit so suddenly like that?”
Ryo leans back and looks superior when she asks, shaking his head and smirking. “Not really. When you have the willpower, nothing is difficult,” he says, and earns approving looks and murmurs of admiration from all of the other members except for Shige, who just snorts derisively to himself at Ryo’s answer.
Ryo pauses at that, eying Shige evilly before turning back to the interviewer. “Though sometimes,” he starts, overly sweet, “it’s not so bad to use something that will help you curb the cravings too.”
Shige chokes on his own spit.
“Like Nicotine patches,” Ryo finishes innocently, and pretends not to notice.
In the meantime, Massu pats Shige’s back sympathetically until he stops coughing; everyone worriedly chalks it up to Shige’s increased smoking over the past three weeks.
Next, when they all get asked about what they’ve been troubled over lately, Koyama fidgets and automatically says, “Shige, ne.”
The interviewer blinks. “Kato-kun? Why’s that?”
Koyama sighs. “I think that maybe he has an addiction,” he reveals, and the other members all nod in concerned agreement.
Even Ryo.
Shige buries his face in his hands and wishes for a cigarette.
END
EDITS? IDK.
Title: Taking the Edge Off
Universe: JE/NewS
Theme/Topic: RyoxShige stuffs
Rating: PG-15?
Character/Pairing/s: NewS (with RyoxShige thrown in and mentions of Jin)
Warnings/Spoilers: OOC, stupid, CRACK.
Word Count: 2,192
Summary: Sequel (of sorts) to “The One Step Program”- Ryo finds something that helps fight the withdrawal.
Dedication: Happy birthday pinkpapyrus! I’m sorry this is not really shippy-shippy, but Ryo being evil counts, right? Also, thanks to Ann for the many edits in helping me make sense of this.
A/N: So I kind of wanted to do a sequel to “The One Step Program” for a while now but never really had an idea so I didn’t force it. But now I kind of have an idea, and hopefully it will turn out without me wanting to rip my hair out of my head. We’ll see. Clearly I know nothing about tobacco addiction, okay? Pretend that we’re in a fantasy world where my assumptions are right or something. Also, still don’t know anything for sure about those rumors of Tegoshi smoking and/or Pi only smoking for work so whatever. If I’m wrong just consider this an AU where Tegoshi doesn’t smoke and Pi totally does. XD
Disclaimer: No harm is meant by this!
Day one is not so bad.
Ryo sees Jin and Yamapi standing outside on the balcony goofing off and smoking together just like clockwork during their routine lunch hour cigarette break; he turns his nose up at them and tells himself that he’s quitting and that it will be easy, because he is a Sexy Osaka Man and has the willpower to accomplish anything he puts his mind to. Currently, he is putting all of his willpower into doing whatever is necessary to guarantee that what happened at yesterday’s photo shoot never repeats itself. Tegoshi’s look of utter repulsion at Ryo’s smell is not something he wants to see on the kid’s face ever again.
Never wanting to be helpless underneath Tegoshi ever again is simply a subsection within that category (one of many, in fact) and thus, does not warrant any specific mention. Or conscious recollection if at all possible.
The bottom line is that he’s quitting and that it’s going to be easy. Because he said so.
“It’s not an addiction,” Ryo says off-handedly to Koyama some hours later, when he and Shige are about to go outside together for their afternoon cigarette break, “It’s just a bad habit.”
“Ryo-chan is very manly,” Koyama replies dutifully, admiring Ryo’s resolve.
Shige just snorts and heads over to the balcony first. “Good luck.”
Ryo looks superior at the both of them when they return five minutes later; Koyama is chewing gum and spraying himself with Febreeze to get the tobacco scent off (so Tegoshi won’t yell) while Shige doesn’t care because Tegoshi doesn’t cuddle with him that much anyway.
When Shige walks past Ryo unapologetically smelling like cigarette smoke and cologne, Ryo’s nostrils twitch a little, but he manages to keep that superior expression of his firmly in place because he is a Sexy Osaka Man who is kicking a bad habit, not an addiction.
He stays as far away from Shige as he can during the rest of rehearsal and makes it through to the end with his dignity firmly intact.
Day one isn’t perfect, but it isn’t so bad either.
~~~~~
Day two sucks ass.
Ryo sees Jin and Yamapi taking their cigarette break at lunch-the one he used to be a part of alongside them every day-and glares at them through the sliding door moodily, wishing for all sorts of horrible things to happen to them for being inconsiderate and doing that in front of him like it’s nothing.
Yamapi sees him staring and waves cheerfully at him through the glass. Ryo snarls back and stalks into the dressing room so that he can bury his head in the couch cushions and seethe.
Tegoshi sees him then, not outside with Yamapi and Jin, and he beams and curls up next to Ryo on the sofa, obliviously asking the older boy how well the whole quitting thing is going.
Ryo would yell and throw things for such an insensitive question except it’s Tegoshi, so he just glowers and lets Tegoshi rest his head against his shoulder instead.
That afternoon, when Koyama and Shige get up to go outside for their cigarette break, Shige eyes a gloomy Ryo warily over his shoulder before sliding out of the room with a shake of his head. Koyama looks sympathetic and makes sure he has plenty of gum on hand for when he gets back, out of courtesy.
When they come back inside five minutes later, Koyama smells like spearmint and Febreeze while Shige smells faintly of cologne and a lot like delicious, delicious tobacco.
Ryo watches Shige intently as he walks by and Shige notices, giving him an odd look in return before he starts to change in preparation for dance rehearsal.
Ryo glares at everyone for the rest of the day and hates himself a little bit when he ends up forcibly switching places with Massu in the formation so he can smell Shige better.
Day two is not anywhere near as easy as day one.
~~~~~
Day three isn’t any better than day two, and when Ryo overhears Koyama whispering to Shige that maybe they shouldn’t take cigarette breaks at work out of courtesy and support for Ryo’s decisions, he’s almost relieved when Shige snorts and says, “I’m not trying to quit,” before stubbornly going outside for his smoke.
Koyama remains inside looking a little bit twitchy for the rest of the afternoon and Shige enjoys his cigarette break because he is not going to be (or is going to try not to be) another one of those people who simply does things in compliance with Tegoshi’s whims.
On day three, when Shige comes back from smoking on the balcony, Ryo smells cigarettes and cologne again and has to count backwards from ten very slowly to keep himself from pinning Shige up against the nearest wall and burying his face into Shige’s neck so he can smell him better.
He tells himself over and over again that it’s not an addiction, just a bad habit.
~~~~~
On day four Koyama has at least convinced Yamapi not to smoke while they’re at work with Ryo; it leaves Shige alone outside that afternoon, when he takes his cigarette break before their next scheduled photo shoot is slated to begin.
There is a dark storm cloud hovering above Ryo’s head in the hours before that; everyone notices it except for Tegoshi (or Tegoshi does notice and just knows he’s immune). It lasts all the way until the moment when Shige comes back inside after his cigarette break and they’re made to pose for pictures together.
In the middle of the first roll of group shots Ryo finds himself leaning forward into Shige’s hair unconsciously; the photographer thinks he’s being cute and asks Shige to tilt his head to the side a little, so it almost looks like Ryo is nosing his cheek instead.
“What are you doing?” Shige hisses nervously, around his fake smile.
“Shut up and keep smiling, moron,” Ryo murmurs, and takes several deep breaths pressed right against Shige’s hair.
Shige turns bright red somewhere underneath all that makeup.
~~~~~
On day five Koyama suggests to Ryo, very carefully, that he might want to try using Nicotine patches to help him quit; they’re supposed to curb the cravings and make the withdrawal symptoms a little bit better. He researched it on the internet just for Ryo-chan last night.
“It’s not an addiction!!” Ryo snarls back stubbornly, and his tone is so severe it sends Koyama skittering to the other side of the room, where he can hide behind the safety of Yamapi’s peacefully oblivious expression.
~~~~~
“It is clearly an addiction!” Shige yells at Ryo indignantly on day six, when they are in the bathroom together after his last cigarette break and he’s mysteriously been shoved up against the wall, both of Ryo’s hands fisted in his shirt and Ryo’s nose pressed right up against his throat.
“Shut up,” Ryo says automatically, and Shige groans when his lips tickle the skin along Shige’s neckline.
He closes his eyes, counts backwards from ten slowly, and doesn’t understand why he is always the one who gets pulled into his groupmates’ ridiculousness time and time again.
~~~~~
On day seven Koyama buys Ryo a box of those Nicotine patches he’d been talking about two days ago and surreptitiously leaves them in Ryo’s bag with a little gift bow and a gift tag attached; the tag has an inspirational message and a lot of smiley faces and hearts drawn all over it.
Shige is almost relieved when he walks into the room that morning and sees Ryo holding the package while reading the instructions on the back of the box carefully.
The relief lasts up until the moment that Ryo makes a face, mouthing, “It’s not an addiction,” to himself darkly before he throws the box away.
Two hours later, when Shige comes back inside from smoking on the balcony, he sees Ryo sitting on the couch by himself glaring at nothing in particular; he’s shaking just the tiniest bit and drumming his fingers against his thigh over and over again, probably harder than he ought to be. Shige sighs and pulls out the box of Nicotine patches he’d salvaged from the trash earlier when no one was looking. He marches up to Ryo and shakes the box in the older boy’s face.
“Sometimes,” Shige starts, trying to sound gentle but probably coming off as impatient instead, “it’s not so bad to use something that will help you curb the cravings.”
A moment.
Then Ryo looks up, first at the box, then at Shige.
And after a very long, very deep breath, he slowly stands and takes the Nicotine patches.
Shige sighs in relief and is about to say something appropriately encouraging to his groupmate about the wisdom behind his decision, but before he can, Ryo growls, “It’s not an addiction,” again and grabs Shige’s wrist.
Five minutes after Shige’s last cigarette break, Ryo pulls him into the bathroom.
~~~~~
Down the hall, the bathroom door slams shut behind them just as Ryo fists both hands in Shige’s shirt and shoves Shige’s back against the wall between the sinks. When Ryo crushes their mouths together Shige surmises that it’s because he’s not satisfied with just catching the faint scent of smoke on Shige’s hair and clothes anymore; he needs something stronger.
Shige isn’t a doctor, but he’s fairly certain that this irrational kind of behavior is a symptom of addiction.
He would say so too, except Ryo’s tongue is currently in his mouth.
~~~~~
When the two of them return to the dressing room some time later, Ryo is looking much less twitchy than he’d been earlier. In fact, he almost seems serene for the rest of the day.
Koyama is relieved, and thinks proudly to himself that he’s glad the gift he’d brought earlier seems to be working for Ryo-chan exactly like he’d hoped it would.
In the meantime, Shige can’t believe it when no one notices that there is a brand new, unopened box of Nicotine patches sitting innocently in the restroom trashcan.
~~~~~
On day eleven of Ryo’s campaign to quit smoking, Koyama’s member-ai senses finally start to tingle over someone other than Ryo and he begins to get concerned over Shige instinctively instead. He follows Shige out onto the balcony when he thinks Ryo isn’t looking that afternoon, to try and find out what’s been wrong with his best friend over the past few days. “Shige,” he says worriedly, “Shige, aren’t you smoking a lot more than you used to? Is it stress? Are you really stressed lately?”
“Yes!” Shige shouts, puffing on his cigarette darkly. He glares balefully at Tegoshi through the sliding glass door when he sees the youngest member bouncing by on his way back to the dressing room from lunch. “I am very stressed!”
“Is it work? All the dramas you’re doing lately must make you tired, ne,” Koyama says, looking sympathetic.
Shige fights the urge to roll his eyes. “It’s not work! It’s the members!” he declares, and stubs his cigarette out on the balcony railing.
“Eeeeh?!” Koyama shrieks.
Shige ignores him and storms back inside.
~~~~~
“It’s not an addiction,” Shige tells himself five minutes later, murmuring against Ryo’s mouth as he gets pushed up against the bathroom wall.
Ryo is just glad that Shige’s finally starting to get it.
~~~~~
At a group magazine interview towards the end of the month, Tegoshi cheerfully says that the thing he’s been most proud of lately is the fact that he helped Ryo quit smoking over the last three weeks. “Yappari, Ryo-tan’s definitely the most adult-like in NewS when it comes to his determination!” the youngest member effuses, and rests his head on Ryo’s shoulder looking very self-satisfied.
Ryo pets his hair indulgently.
“That’s an impressive achievement for just a few weeks work,” the interviewer agrees, and turns to Ryo expectantly for the follow up. “Was it very difficult for you to quit so suddenly like that?”
Ryo leans back and looks superior when she asks, shaking his head and smirking. “Not really. When you have the willpower, nothing is difficult,” he says, and earns approving looks and murmurs of admiration from all of the other members except for Shige, who just snorts derisively to himself at Ryo’s answer.
Ryo pauses at that, eying Shige evilly before turning back to the interviewer. “Though sometimes,” he starts, overly sweet, “it’s not so bad to use something that will help you curb the cravings too.”
Shige chokes on his own spit.
“Like Nicotine patches,” Ryo finishes innocently, and pretends not to notice.
In the meantime, Massu pats Shige’s back sympathetically until he stops coughing; everyone worriedly chalks it up to Shige’s increased smoking over the past three weeks.
Next, when they all get asked about what they’ve been troubled over lately, Koyama fidgets and automatically says, “Shige, ne.”
The interviewer blinks. “Kato-kun? Why’s that?”
Koyama sighs. “I think that maybe he has an addiction,” he reveals, and the other members all nod in concerned agreement.
Even Ryo.
Shige buries his face in his hands and wishes for a cigarette.
END
EDITS? IDK.