Email log -- Oishi and Echizen
Date: Friday night, 20 October 2006
Rating: PG
Summary: Oishi thinks it would be a good thing to practice dating. Echizen takes pity on his 10-year-older friend. They head to a Cosplay Cafe...
Homophobia. Palmreading. Gakuto cosplayer. Gratuitous fluff. Ex-wives. Cheating. Pervy fathers. And Karupin.
5 PM and Oishi pushed his chair back. An hour early. He glanced guiltily at the work still left on his monitor, but resolutely shut his system down. He had things to do before meeting Echizen at 7 PM, and ... for the first time since starting at headquarters, was cutting work short in favor of his life. Ahhh...his life. Oishi felt a small nervous thrill at the complete unpredictability of it. He didn't even really know Echizen -- only knew that they had some kind of strange chemistry and really seemed to hit it off, because the younger man seemed genuinely interested in HIM for some reason...
Oishi paused to wonder whether Echizen might be a little strange, to find him interesting enough to spend time with, but then laughed at himself. Oishi could always talk about fish...
On his way out Oishi paused to pick up a newspaper. He did this every day on his way home -- the headlines, he knew, directly reflected the activities of the operatives. Oishi filed away details in his mind...he suspected there were a few operatives in North Korea, and worried just a little that the economic sanctions would make life even more difficult for them...
He went and picked up his new outfit from the cleaners, and then went home to feed the fish, details of the WMD tests still praying on his mind. It seemed somehow vastly trivial to be excited about something like a date when another player was nosing its way into the Arms arena... but. It did give Oishi some perspective. Life was chancy; he was incredibly grateful for a few hours of time from someone interesting and...and attractive. He'd grab the opportunity and run with it.
At precisely 6 PM he put on his outfit, staring down at his fashionably cut jeans and tshirt, tighter than he normally wore. He wondered if it looked okay, and hoped that he wasn't too much of a show-off for wearing something that clung to his musculature in quite that way. Boy, the story he had about picking out the outfit... He shook his head, blushing a little. They'd been VERY attentive at that shop.
At 6:30 he left the house, and at 7:00 on the dot arrived at Echizen's front door. He had a small omake for him, a bag with a cat toy. Oishi raised his arm and knocked...
Ryoma always left at 5. He got enough done at work that there usually wasn't any reason to stay late. At 6:30, he was stepping out of the shower, walking around his apartment in a towel and talking to Karupin.
"You have to behave, Karupin. No hissing at him, and if you claw at him I'll shut you in the bathroom while I'm gone. He's a decent guy...I think..." He glanced at his cat...who was giving a rather skeptical look. "Shut up, Karupin. You be nice. You don't have to like him, but be nice."
Ryoma headed to his room after giving Karupin some food. What to wear, what to wear....
He decided on his favorite pair of dark blue hip hugger jeans and a deep green Tshirt. He pulled them on and glanced at himself in the mirror. Had he gained weight? Ryoma didn't remember those jeans being that tight... He shrugged. They were still comfortable. And his shirt was clinging to him, just barely looser than second-skin tight. It hung a little over the top of his jeans and would flash skin if he lifted his arms too much.
It was a little cool, so he grabbed his dark blue denim jacket and shrugged it on, just as he heard the knock on his door.
Karupin mrowed and ran for the door, Ryoma close behind. He stared down at his pet. "Be. Nice." he growled to the cat, then opened the door.
"Right on time, Oishi-san," he smiled.
Oishi laughed, bringing his hand to the back of his head. "Echizen-san...do you mind calling me Oishi? I'd actually prefer it. I'd feel a little less like your college teacher." He flashed Echizen a shy grin and noted the outfit. Echizen always looked nice, but was looking somehow... Oishi allowed a bit of appreciation to show in his eyes. "You look nice." Sexy, actually, but Oishi was hardly going to say that.
"I brought something for Karupin." Oishi held out the bag containing the little feather on the stick.
Ryoma smiled a little. "I'll try," he promised, opening the door a little wider and taking the bag. "Come on in. You really didn't have to bring something for him." He pulled the toy out of the bag, watching Karupin from the corner of his eye.
The cat's gaze was immediately on the toy, eyes wide and intent. Ryoma laughed. "I think he likes it already." He held the toy down towards Karupin, wiggling it around a little. Instantly the cat was meowing and trying to pounce on it. Ryoma laughed again. "Oh yeah, he likes it. Thanks."
Oishi let himself go still. He knew the importance of not pressuring animals or children to like him. He crouched down and held a hand out, but didn't try anything more. He let his natural gentleness exude from him in a wave, looking at the cat with a calm, reassuring gaze. He wasn't here to steal Karupin's master.
"We'll bring you leftovers," Oishi promised, smiling. "And I won't keep him out too late."
Ryoma raised an eyebrow. "He's not my keeper, yanno," he snarked, watching Karupin's reaction carefully. On rare occasions, Karupin would act friendly, but he'd have a mean look in his eyes.
Karupin blinked at the strange man, sniffed the air a little, and took a small step forward. Then another.
Ryoma was relieved that Karupin seemed only curious, instead of murderous like he had the last time a new face had been there. The last guy Ryoma'd had over had turned out to be a real jerk, so Ryoma put more trust in his cat's reaction than he had before.
Karupin sniffed a little harder, then closed the distance between himself and the new guy, nuzzling against the outstretched hand and purring.
"Looks like he likes you, Oishi-sa--... Oishi."
Oishi gently rubbed his finger between Karupin's ears, feeling the soft fur. "One problem with fish," Oishi said lightly, "is that they're not quite so nice to touch." Karupin was lovely. Oishi made a mental note to add catnip to Echizen's morning delivery of Ponta, water and fruit.
After a moment Oishi stood. "Shall we head to the cafe? I made reservations," he said, and felt momentarily like a fool. "I probably totally over-planned. I think I counted exactly how many steps it would take to get there too." He laughed. "See? I'm not sure I'm cut out for real dating. I tend to obsess like mad about everything."
Karupin twined himself around the new guy's legs, still purring. Ryoma batted him away. "Go on, Karupin. Git."
Ryoma watched Karupin scamper to the couch, then grabbed his keys from the small table by the door and shoved them into the pocket of his jacket. "I'm ready, yeah." He let Oishi out first, himself close behind. He shut the door and made sure it was locked before walking away from his door.
"As long as you can find someone who doesn't mind you being a little OCD, I don't see why you'd have a problem," he shrugged. It wouldn't bother him personally, as long as it was just Oishi being nervous. If he did weird stuff like that when he was perfectly relaxed...it might be weird.
Oishi pondered that as he led the way to the cafe. "My ex-wife...Sakurako. She got me to relax after a while," Oishi said, pondering. "I think it took a few swift thwaps to the back of my head before she convinced me that I didn't have to plan everything."
He laughed, remembering the days. "Once, she made me be spontaneous for a day. I planned what I'd spontaneously do with her for WEEKS. It's simply that I didn't want her to have a bad time..."
The cafe wasn't far from Echizen's apartment. They walked there side by side, and Oishi wondered if they looked like a strange couple, a timeworn man with a face softened by worry, and his shorter, handsome companion... "But a maid cafe? Sakurako wouldn't have been interested. I guess that's one good thing about being single." He shot Echizen a wry look. "I can explore everything now."
Ryoma stared at him a moment. "You...planned...being spontaneous? That kinda defeats the purpose, Oishi," he laughed, shaking his head. "That's...." He thought about it a moment. "That's so you." Oishi probably wouldn't know spontaneous if it bit him.
"It sounds like you have a lot to explore, too. Dating, guys, dating guys..." he snickered a little. "So...did you plan on asking me on this 'practice date', or was that spontaneous?" he asked, curious. Either way was explorative, though. Planning to ask someone he barely knew, or just...asking.
Oishi tilted his head and considered. Around him, the bustling streets of his city gave him a strange sense of anonymity, of freedom... He was used to a routine that shuttled him from work, to home, and back to work, with small stops in between on prescribed days at places where every shopkeeper knew his name. Oishi was conscientious; he always went to local shopping districts for his food purchases instead of supermarkets, to keep the old businesses alive...
Spontaneity, eh?
"Entirely spontaneous," Oishi said, blushing ever so slightly. "I just felt like we clicked somehow. That you wouldn't mind hanging out with a stick like me, and showing me how it's done."
They were almost there. The maid cafe's lights were bright, and a greeter in a Sailor Moon costume stood outside the door, gloves clenched demurely. "Welcome!" She said with a bright smile.
Ryoma shrugged. Truth be told, he'd felt a little of that click himself. And the thought of prying someone out of their shell...he found it kinda exciting, really. Like discovering that maybe, deep down inside, Oishi was the kind of guy who'd be into motorcycles and leather and BDSM....
...Yeah. Right.
He eyed the cosplay girl a little. Well. She was slim enough to wear a skirt that short. But it was still....really wierd. He figured if he was straight, or even bi, he'd think she was hot.
He leaned a little towards Oishi and whispered, "There is NO way I'm telling Oyaji about this place."
Oishi pondered that and laughed. He'd known people like that before, all the people he'd hung out with at his previous occupation.
Sailor Moon seated them at a booth, and he paused a moment to stare around.
"Yeah. The guys from my previous job were reasonably piggish about women. We were all married, but we'd go to karaoke bars and they'd always have something to say about the women there. I never did." Oishi shrugged slightly. "I suppose my politeness worked in my favor. They thought it was my upbringing that kept me from joining them in their running commentary. I suppose they were half right."
The shop was fascinating. It was so cute it was almost cloying -- with little pink-tableclothed booths and fancy teacups served by women in an assortment of intricate apparel.
One of them came up to them. She was wearing something strange. It looked like a sports team jersey, a silver one with black stripes, and a pair of white shorts. She had a short red pageboy haircut, and didn't look particularly feminine. Oishi smiled at her. "What are you?"
The girl just glared at him sullenly.
Oishi blinked.
"What do you want, already?" She asked. "Or have you been staring around too much to figure that out?"
She was totally using male language. Oishi blinked again. "Uhhh..."
"Oh come on. How bout you, hot stuff? Maybe you have more to say that idiot boy here." She turned to Echizen.
Ryoma smirked up at her and reigned in his snark, a little, as he replied. "You sure you're not a guy under that getup?"
She totally talked like one. Looked kinda like one too.
"Calling me 'hot stuff' would get you bonus points if you were. But you'd lose them all, for hitting on me in front of my boyfriend." He was teasing her completely, and being spontaneous like he was the definition of the word. Just for kicks.
He glanced at the menu, and ordered himself the curry and a glass of water, watching Oishi's face out of the corner of his eye.
The strange sports girl glared at Echizen, jotting something on her notepad. Oishi hoped it wasn't "spit on the curry" ... but his jaw was too slack to do anything more than stare blankly as the girl turned to him.
"What?" The girl snapped.
"Omurice..." Oishi cleared his throat and smiled reassuringly at her, but she the look she was giving them was already on the suspicious side.
"You sure you wanna date this one?" She said to Echizen. "He seems to be a little slow..."
Ryoma laughed. "He's just shy. It's adorable, I think," he grinned, patting Oishi's thigh like it was the most natural thing in the world.
He had the urge to kiss Oishi on the cheek. Partly to surprise the hell out of the older man, partly to heckle the waitress more. But that would probably cross comfort lines, so he refrained. As it was, he was probably pushing limits already.
He just kept smiling at her, hoping she'd go away soon. He should probably apologize to Oishi for being...that much of himself, without warning.
Oishi sucked in his breath at the touch to his thigh. Ahh. This was spontaneous, right. The waitress turned with a quick flip of her red hair, revealing a rather nice...hm. Oishi blinked. The gender-switching thing was confusing him greatly, as was the hand on his thigh.
He covered the hand on his thigh with one of his own and held it there firmly, smiling at Echizen. "Did you think you could take your hand back now?" He said, a little teasingly. It felt good there. It had been a long time.
"It doesn't really matter to me," Ryoma shrugged. He thought to himself that Oishi's hand on his...felt good, somehow. In ways none of his ex-boyfriends' ever had.
"I hope I didn't...freak you out or anything." Last thing he wanted was to make Oishi uncomfortable with the whole dating thing, even if this one was just practice. "I just couldn't help it. The urge to tease her was just...too strong..."
Oishi blinked, his face lighting with amusement. "I figured it out," he said. "Really. I was more pondering how to play along -- and realized that I didn't have any practice being someone's boyfriend. Someone male, that is."
He raised Echizen's hand to the table and turned it over in his. "My mom taught me how to read palms," he said, examining Echizen's. He'd done this a few times before -- the other person was always vaguely amused.
Oishi traced a finger down one of the lines on Echizen's palm, poking at it curiously.
Ryoma shrugged again. "I can't imagine it'd be any different from being boyfriend to a girl."
He watched Oishi trace a line on his palm, and tilted his head a little out of curiosity. "So. What's that one say?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.
He hoped it wasn't telling any kinds of embarrassing stories.
Oishi looked into Echizen's palm. He ran his thumb over the callous on the base of it -- a programmer's callous, where the wrist rested on the table in front of the keyboard. Then he pointed.
"This line going between your first two fingers is really deep. It means you're a loner by nature. Prefer following your own rhythms and having time to yourself."
Oishi showed Echizen the same place on his own palm. "Not there. Mine is over here." He pointed to where the line went between another two fingers. "It means that I tend to form close bonds with few people, but that I need someone in my 'tribe' to feel worthwhile." He chuckled. "I guess I need people to worry about."
The surly redhead came back and set down their orders, eyeing up their interlaced hands with a small gleam in her eye. Oishi wondered what she was thinking.
Ryoma grinned, unable to keep himself from teasing the waitress further, and scooted a little closer to Oishi. Close enough to rest his head on the older man's shoulder.
But he waited to say anything until the girl had left.
He pointed to another line on Oishi's palm, the one that ran from the center of the bottom of his palm, in a curve around the thumb, to about midway between thumb and index finger. "So, what's this one mean?"
Oishi looked sideway at Echizen, dark hair resting lightly on his shoulder, and took another breath. If this was practice, it was lovely. He stopped himself from turning his head and planting a small kiss on Echizen's forehead -- that would certainly be risking a good friendship.
"That's the lifeline," Oishi said softly, running Echizen's finger along his own palm. "It's strong and deep for me. Means I'm not easily controlled by other people."
He looked at Echizen's. "Same goes for you."
"Mm. True enough."
Ryoma used his other hand to pick up the spoon (grateful that this place had western utensils as well as chopsticks) and took a bite of his curry. He chewed and swallowed it. "Oh wow. It's actually pretty good," he commented
He took another bite and pondered breifly that he was glad he was ambidexterous, so he wouldn't have to take his hand from Oishi's to eat. Although Oishi might have to break the contact... Ryoma didn't know what hand the guy used.
Oishi stared. "Hm, I wonder how to read the palm of someone ambidextrous," he said, laughing. "My mom only told me how to read someone's 'dominant' hand." He pondered the interesting dillema, but then hunger overtook him.
He kept his left hand in Echizen's and picked up the fork. It was hard to eat Omurice with chopsticks. "This isn't bad." He leaned close to Echizen and whispered in his ear so that the servers couldn't hear him. "I make better. I'll make it for you sometime."
Ryoma chuckled. "You're reading my less-dominant hand, then. I'm generally a lefty."
He couldn't help the shiver at Oishi's breath against his ear.
"Yeah? I'll hold you to that, if you're not careful," he grinned, turning towards Oishi. Hell. Home-cooked food was good, no matter how he got it.
Oishi kept his head where it was. This was interesting. He was so close that a small move could brush their noses together.
"What do you think the waitress would do if we kissed each other?" Oishi whispered. "Think she'd go back home and write fanfiction?" He grinned.
Ryoma blushed, just a tiny bit across the bridge of his nose. "I dunno. But judging by the looks some of the other customers are giving us, I'm afraid you'd get your first lesson in ignoring the closed-minded," he whispered back, serious, but grinning.
He was honestly concerned about how Oishi would handle being called all the things he knew people could come up with for gays. Quite frankly, he'd rather the other guy never experience it at all.
That aside, he wasn't sure he'd mind if Oishi did try to kiss him. But Ryoma never kissed on the first date, let alone a practice one.
Oishi nodded seriously and backed away. "That wouldn't be a very nice first practice date," he said, but kept his hand laced in Echizen's, pulling it beneath the table.
"Have you ever experienced really bad homophobia?
Ryoma thought about it a moment, taking another bite of his curry.
"I've never directly been on the receiving end, no. But...the last guy I dated was. He broke up with me because of it. And I've heard the kinds of things people say." He shook is head. "Makes me sick to hear it," he finished, voice dripping with barely contained venom at the thought of what he'd heard.
Oishi nodded. They lived in an interesting world, that was clear. It was fine to buy all of the counterculture comics that he wanted, but not express affection in public... Not that it was seemly to express affection for a woman in public either. "I wonder what it would be like to live in a place like Amsterdam, or San Francisco," he said softly. "Must feel very freeing. But...I'd also wonder what my place was, without anything to guide me..."
Ryoma gave Oishi a curious look. "What do you mean, 'without anything to guide you'?" he asked.
"I guess I mean... in Japan, roles are always very clear cut. Or were... Up until last year I was the husband, the one who made money for my family. And I'd planned to have a child, too. We were even in the process. Sakurako had just stopped taking her birth control..." Oishi sighed, thought back. It had been such a strange year. "When I got the divorce, it was pretty sudden. And suddenly it felt like all of my old identities were gone."
Ryoma nodded. "I noticed that when we moved to Japan. I thought it was wierd, when my family moved here, how women were still expected to stay home and take care of the kids while the men were out working all the time."
His mom had spent her whole life in America, so she'd taught him American roles, which, essentially, boiled down to 'do what you want'.
"Kaa-san made sure I understood that there were gender stereotypes. And then she told me to ignore them or play into them however I wanted." Ryoma shrugged. "Generally, I ignore them. I'm just...me. Do what I want, when I want, how I want to."
Oishi nodded. "My ex and I weren't very traditional, gender-wise. Sakurako worked just like I did. Some of my coworkers accused me of letting her wear the pants..." Oishi shrugged. "Who made the decisions didn't matter to me, as long as we were both reasonably happy with the results."
He smiled at Echizen. "Your mom sounds great."
"Sounds like you guys were more American in your roles, then," he smiled.
Ryoma thought about his mom, and his dad, and the two of them together.
"Kaa-san's great...she worries a lot, though." He chuckled. "Kinda like you."
"But I have no idea how or why she puts up with Oyaji. He's married to her. He can have as many perverted thoughts as he wants about her. But he's always looking at those dirty magazines and hitting on other women," Ryoma said, shaking his head. "She should kick his ass to the curb, but she won't."
Ryoma just didn't get it.
"There are a lot of reasons why people stay together," Oishi said, stroking his thumb lightly over Ryoma's palm. "Complicated ones... I think I knew I was gay from my teen years on, but when my family wanted me to be straight and get married, I didn't say no. I did what they wanted... And to be honest, it wasn't a bad life." Oishi thought back, feeling a bit bleak. "It just wasn't an honest life."
"Your mom might love your dad for other reasons. Love is pretty complex."
Ryoma thought about that. "Mmmm...I guess. Still. I kinda feel like he's cheating on her when he does that. And she's the one who told me not to stand for being cheated on." He shrugged. "I'll probably never understand either of them."
And he could understand Oishi, being afraid to do anything but be straight. Ryoma himself had been really nervous when he told his oyaji that he shouldn't be expecting grandkids...ever. He gave Oishi's palm a squeeze, wanting the guy to cheer up.
Oishi nodded. "Yes, I can see how it seems like cheating." Oishi's forehead creased. Echizen's father sounded...horrible. "You're incredibly well-adjusted for having a father like that.
He'd save his own story about cheating -- and about how he realized he was gay -- for another time. It was a little too deep for a maid cafe...
Ryoma nudged Oishi lightly. The other guy seemed like he wasn't quite on the same planet anymore, and it seemed like Ryoma had hit some kind of nerve with Oishi. He tried to think of a different line of conversation...
"Er...so. How'd that blood drive go?"
Hey. It was all he could come up with. God, he sucked at conversation sometimes.
The meal was almost done. In the background, a set of girls dressed up in Victorian era outfits were waltzing slowly together to classical music. Oishi poked Echizen in the ribs and stared. "This seems very unreal, all at once," Oishi said, laughing. "Doesn't seem like the Tokyo that I know."
Oishi pondered Echizen's question. "It was nice, if that isn't weird," he admitted. "I got to meet people. And you learn alot about someone when you've got a needle in their arm. Like with you -- I learned that you're incredibly brave. You didn't want to do it, but you did anyway. I think that's what I admired about you most, when I first met you."
Ryoma chuckled. "It is like a whole different universe in here. Kinda wierd."
He blushed a little at the compliment. "I don't know that I'd call it brave. Just...supporting the people who do things I'd never even think of doing. Seriously...risking my life for something? I dunno...I don't think I could do it." He shook his head a little. No way.
"It's funny. Sometimes I wonder about my motivation for joining this company." Oishi let his voice go very soft. "I know it has to do with pride in my country -- and I feel it. But...sometimes I wonder whether a more global perspective wouldn't help solve a whole lot of these issues. I mean, look at you -- you grew up in America and came here, and... I think you more than anyone know and understand that everyone's human."
Unpopular opinion to have, working for their company. "I wouldn't want to risk my life either. I'd rather live quietly for a cause than die nobly for it."
"Honestly...I think you give me too much credit. It's a job, it pays the bills," Ryoma shrugged. "There's very little I'd die for, regardless of how noble it might be." Maybe he was just jaded.
"But it's good that you've got pride in your country and all that patriotic stuff. I've never really had it. Politics are just way over my head, and what little I do understand is stupid or pointless or childish bickering over little things, so it makes me not want to try to understand it."
"But hell yeah, everybody's human. No one person can make the world a perfect place. Even if every person on earth worked together, there'd still be flaws. It's just the way it is." Ryoma had always been that way.
But speaking of meeting people... "You know, you're really the only person I've met. I mean, I know some of the other tech guys well enough to know their face and name, but that's really about it." He should probably get out more.
Ahh...right... "Well." Oishi gulped and tried to hide his blush behind the cup of tea. "Uh. Sengoku-san, one of the fellow programmers, asked if I'd like to join him on a...a. Double date. Would you...like to join me?" Oishi slid his eyes sideways to meet Echizen's and smiled. "I think Oshitari will be there too. I haven't met him in person yet." But Oishi had seen Oshitari and Sengoku making out in Sengoku's office. Oishi was glad he hadn't been stopping by to say hello at the time... Oishi wondered whether security cameras were placed in people's offices, and whether Sengoku even cared.
"It would be a real date, though," Oishi said, averting his eyes and blushing even more. Why did he feel sixteen again?
Ryoma blinked, then flushed a little, then kinda stared. Oishi was...cute, when he was blushing like that. Made him seem...younger, in a way.
And...a real date...with Oishi. That would be nice... Ryoma found that he really was liking the older guy. He was...a little wierd at times, but...no one had ever accused Ryoma himself of going for 'normal'.
He started to reply with a nonchalant 'sure, I'll go', but for as shy as Oishi looked, Ryoma was afraid Oishi would think he didn't care one way or the other. So he rephrased his thoughts. "I'd like that, Oishi," he replied, smiling. He gave the older man's hand a squeeze.
And then Oishi felt a strange rush of giddiness, and fear. This was nothing like the intense lust of his interaction with the only man he'd been with. This was instead like...hm. Like a slow gentle tickle to his skin, opening up more emotions than just one.
The redhead came back and threw their check down on the table, stomping off without a word. Oishi tucked some money into the bill and hesitated.
"I have no idea whether or not to leave a tip," Oishi said, laughing. "She might be perfectly in character."
Ryoma laughed a little and glanced around the place, to see if she was the only grouchy one or not. Most of the other waitresses looked like they were being pleasant, smiling and blushing and calling their customers "master". From what he could see, she was the odd one out.
"My guess would be not. If the theme of this place was grouchy, all the servers would be doing it." He nodded towards one table where the waitress had gotten particularly cozy with the customer, going so far as to be sitting in his lap. "Looks like the other girls are being perfectly friendly."
Oishi pondered for a moment more and gave the girl a healthy tip anyway. If he was being paid barely subsistent wages and expected to dress up for it, he'd probably be a little surly too.
And then Oishi stood and firmly recaptured Echizen's hand. He smiled at the other man. "Do I walk you to your door now?" He asked. He wasn't a big reader of romance fiction, nor did he watch TV. Plus, he had no idea whether another man would consider that sort of thing insulting -- wasn't it to insure that his date was safely seen to the door?
Ryoma thought about it, then shrugged. "You can, if you'd like." He wouldn't try to force Oishi, but he certainly wouldn't complain.
Besides, Oishi walking him home meant they spent just that much more time together. And...a bit to his own surprise, he found himself wanting to spend more time with the other guy.
Oishi stopped at the doorway and pondered. If he walked hand-in-hand with another man down the streets of his staid and modest city, he'd get more than stares. It didn't bother him (although he worried about offending people), but it did make him worry about Echizen.
Oishi unlaced his fingers from Echizen's with a feeling of regret, and settled for walking next to him.
"What're you up to tomorrow at work?" Oishi asked a bit curiously. He pondered his own workload and made a mental note to check the Ponta cases that were steadily stacking up in the storeroom.
Ryoma's hand felt empty, now that Oishi had let go. Though he could probably make a good guess about why, so he let it go, reluctantly, and instead walked beside the other man, closer than he had on the way to the cafe.
"Nothing interesting. Debugging a program or two, coding a little. The usual," he shrugged, stuffing his hands into the back pockets of his jeans, trying to fend off the urge to take Oishi's hand again.
It wasn't a long walk. Oishi kept the conversation going about trivial things, his mind on something else entirely. There was a chill to the air -- finally, in October, the weather had turned. Echizen looked cold in his soft, tight-fitting shirt...Oishi pondered his mixture of emotions. He wanted to wrap himself around the smaller man and make him warm. In a purely platonic way. Except for the impulse to turn it into something else entirely -- to see how warm he could make Echizen's skin beneath that shirt.
Oishi took a deep breath and let the thoughts float away on the autumn breeze. "Are you cold?" He asked gently, and before Echizen could say anything, took off his coat and draped it over the other man's shoulders.
There. An indirect hug.
Ryoma blinked in surprise. That was...unexpected. But cute. And it made him think, a little.
The last guy who'd tried to do something like that to Ryoma had gotten yelled at. Ryoma was usually fine to suffer the weather along with whomever he was around, instead of letting the other suffer while he was nice and comfortable. But...for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to yell at Oishi for it.
Instead, he accepted the gesture and threaded his arms into the sleeve of the too-big jacket.
Ah, what the hell.
He gave into himself a little and took Oishi's hand back in his and smiled. "...Aren't you cold, now?" he asked, feeling strangely shy as he spoke.
Oishi laughed.
"It's the mother in me. If someone else is cold, my body warms right up. Biological fact -- mothers warm up to the temperature their infant needs, when resting against their skin."
Oishi laughed again, this time at himself. "That probably sounds incredibly weird, doesn't it. I don't mean to imply that I'm your mom. Just that I'm not cold. Maybe it has nothing to do with being motherly at all."
It probably didn't. From the way Oishi felt himself react at that light hand touch in his.
Ryoma laughed too. He almost commented "but I'm not right against your skin", but that brought to mind images he hadn't expected. He mentally shook them out of his head. Maybe he'd ponder over them later, but...it was better that he not, right now.
"I know what you meant, Oishi," he grinned, ignoring the look a passer-by shot their way. If he'd been feeling incredibly snarky, he would have just flicked them off, but the gesture didn't quite seem right with Oishi there.
And despite the looks...he was really glad the other man hadn't tried to let go of his hand again. He had that bold but shy feeling again, and walked a little closer to Oishi so the length of their arms touched. Which earned them even more wary looks that Ryoma just pleasantly ignored. He'd had lots of practice ignoring those kinds of idiots.
Oishi took a deep breath and steadied his nerves. So this was coming out, eh? It felt nerve-wracking. Oishi felt the strange simultaneous need to defiantly smile at and apologize to everyone who passed. He wasn't sure which impulse would win.
Finally they came to Echizen's apartment and he let out a sigh of relief. He felt strangely exhausted from their walk, and shot Echizen a slightly wry glance.
"Wow. So this is being gay."
Ryoma laughed good and hard. Not meaning to insult Oishi, just at how much he'd restrained himself and the older man looked like he was about to have some kind of heart attack.
When he finally composed himself, he looked up at Oishi, one eyebrow raised. "If you think that was stressful..." He shook his head. "One of my exes and I used to go out of our way to let everybody that saw us know we were gay. We made out in the middle of a park on a Sunday afternoon, once." He laughed at the memory. "People would shout all kinds of things at us, and we'd just ignore them, or one of us would take a moment and flick the person off. The moms would cover their kids' eyes and tell them not to look, and we'd just laugh." Of course, Ryoma had been a teenager then, so that was more a part of his rebellious phase than a part of him personally. "I haven't done shit like that in years, though."
Ryoma had been tempted to do it tonight with Oishi, but for the other man's sake he'd held himself back. He didn't care if other people saw or knew, but he wasn't sure Oishi was comfortable enough with his homosexuality to survive it.
Oishi couldn't restrain the blush. He laughed and covered his face with a hand. "I've been doing the right thing for so long that it's a shock to the system to do anything that someone might not like," he admitted.
But then a thought occurred to him. Being gay wasn't all bad, because... Oishi stepped closer to Echizen, gripped the smaller man around the shoulders, and wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close. Hugged him tightly for a moment.
"Thanks," Oishi whispered in Echizen's ear, feeling the softly electric charge of another man's body against his. "For showing me all of that."
Ryoma blinked and blushed, suddenly finding himself pressed against Oishi. From what he could tell...the older man had good muscle tone to him... And those unexpected images about being right against his skin floated back, making Ryoma very glad that as long as he stayed like this, Oishi wouldn't be able to see him blushing.
He took a deep breath...wow. Oishi...smelled really good. He wondered if the other guy was wearing some kind of cologne, or if that was just the way he smelled.
Ryoma pulled his mind out of those thoughts, storing them away for later. "You're welcome," he replied softly. "And I really hope you never have to see the bad side...how ugly it can be sometimes. Until you're really used to it, the looks, the name-calling, the insults...they hurt. And...in a way, it's really sad to think how used to it a person can get." Ryoma himself was very used to it, which might have something to do with why he flaunted it, sometimes.
Almost shyly, Ryoma wrapped his arms around Oishi, prolonging the contact. Oishi felt...really warm...and really comfortable.
Oishi felt the arms go around him and shivered just a bit. Oh -- boy.
Okay. For this feeling, for the feeling of being in the right place at the right time with the right man, he'd brave any amount of stares.
Gently Oishi ruffled his fingers through Echizen's hair. Found a bit of bravery inside of himself. Leaned down and softly kissed Echizen's floppy bangs.
"I enjoyed being with you."
Ryoma blushed brightly and, for the first time that night, found himself wishing he had his cap on so he could pull it down and hide his face.
This...was new...and kinda freaky. He'd only known Oishi for a few weeks...this was only their first date - and not even a real one at that - and yet...the level of comfort he felt around the older man was higher than with any of his exes.
"I...really enjoyed it too," he replied quietly, forcing his blushing to go away.
And then Karupin yowled from inside the apartment.
Oishi heard the yowl and pulled away, almost sheepishly. "I'll see you Monday." It was more a statement than a question. Oishi smiled. He could always pull the Ponta card.
"Yeah...see you Monday..." Ryoma pulled his key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, opening it a little. He started to go inside, then paused, thinking.
He turned back towards Oishi, took the step or two needed to close the distance between them again, stood on his tip-toes and quickly kissed Oishi's cheek. Then, without waiting for a reaction of any kind, he dashed into his apartment and shut the door behind him.
He leaned back against the door and could feel the heat in his cheeks, his heart beating nervously in his chest. He hadn't felt like this since his first date ever...and that...was nothing compared to this.
Karupin meandered around his feet, mewling softly. Ah...right. The cat probably needed food...
Oishi's breath sucked in and he felt dizzy. Echizen's lips were on his cheek, and then the man was gone. He touched the tingling skin with his fingertips, turned in a daze, and floated his way down the stairs.
Oishi was halfway home before he realized that he was a little cold.
Oh -- right.
Oishi smiled.
Rating: PG
Summary: Oishi thinks it would be a good thing to practice dating. Echizen takes pity on his 10-year-older friend. They head to a Cosplay Cafe...
Homophobia. Palmreading. Gakuto cosplayer. Gratuitous fluff. Ex-wives. Cheating. Pervy fathers. And Karupin.
5 PM and Oishi pushed his chair back. An hour early. He glanced guiltily at the work still left on his monitor, but resolutely shut his system down. He had things to do before meeting Echizen at 7 PM, and ... for the first time since starting at headquarters, was cutting work short in favor of his life. Ahhh...his life. Oishi felt a small nervous thrill at the complete unpredictability of it. He didn't even really know Echizen -- only knew that they had some kind of strange chemistry and really seemed to hit it off, because the younger man seemed genuinely interested in HIM for some reason...
Oishi paused to wonder whether Echizen might be a little strange, to find him interesting enough to spend time with, but then laughed at himself. Oishi could always talk about fish...
On his way out Oishi paused to pick up a newspaper. He did this every day on his way home -- the headlines, he knew, directly reflected the activities of the operatives. Oishi filed away details in his mind...he suspected there were a few operatives in North Korea, and worried just a little that the economic sanctions would make life even more difficult for them...
He went and picked up his new outfit from the cleaners, and then went home to feed the fish, details of the WMD tests still praying on his mind. It seemed somehow vastly trivial to be excited about something like a date when another player was nosing its way into the Arms arena... but. It did give Oishi some perspective. Life was chancy; he was incredibly grateful for a few hours of time from someone interesting and...and attractive. He'd grab the opportunity and run with it.
At precisely 6 PM he put on his outfit, staring down at his fashionably cut jeans and tshirt, tighter than he normally wore. He wondered if it looked okay, and hoped that he wasn't too much of a show-off for wearing something that clung to his musculature in quite that way. Boy, the story he had about picking out the outfit... He shook his head, blushing a little. They'd been VERY attentive at that shop.
At 6:30 he left the house, and at 7:00 on the dot arrived at Echizen's front door. He had a small omake for him, a bag with a cat toy. Oishi raised his arm and knocked...
Ryoma always left at 5. He got enough done at work that there usually wasn't any reason to stay late. At 6:30, he was stepping out of the shower, walking around his apartment in a towel and talking to Karupin.
"You have to behave, Karupin. No hissing at him, and if you claw at him I'll shut you in the bathroom while I'm gone. He's a decent guy...I think..." He glanced at his cat...who was giving a rather skeptical look. "Shut up, Karupin. You be nice. You don't have to like him, but be nice."
Ryoma headed to his room after giving Karupin some food. What to wear, what to wear....
He decided on his favorite pair of dark blue hip hugger jeans and a deep green Tshirt. He pulled them on and glanced at himself in the mirror. Had he gained weight? Ryoma didn't remember those jeans being that tight... He shrugged. They were still comfortable. And his shirt was clinging to him, just barely looser than second-skin tight. It hung a little over the top of his jeans and would flash skin if he lifted his arms too much.
It was a little cool, so he grabbed his dark blue denim jacket and shrugged it on, just as he heard the knock on his door.
Karupin mrowed and ran for the door, Ryoma close behind. He stared down at his pet. "Be. Nice." he growled to the cat, then opened the door.
"Right on time, Oishi-san," he smiled.
Oishi laughed, bringing his hand to the back of his head. "Echizen-san...do you mind calling me Oishi? I'd actually prefer it. I'd feel a little less like your college teacher." He flashed Echizen a shy grin and noted the outfit. Echizen always looked nice, but was looking somehow... Oishi allowed a bit of appreciation to show in his eyes. "You look nice." Sexy, actually, but Oishi was hardly going to say that.
"I brought something for Karupin." Oishi held out the bag containing the little feather on the stick.
Ryoma smiled a little. "I'll try," he promised, opening the door a little wider and taking the bag. "Come on in. You really didn't have to bring something for him." He pulled the toy out of the bag, watching Karupin from the corner of his eye.
The cat's gaze was immediately on the toy, eyes wide and intent. Ryoma laughed. "I think he likes it already." He held the toy down towards Karupin, wiggling it around a little. Instantly the cat was meowing and trying to pounce on it. Ryoma laughed again. "Oh yeah, he likes it. Thanks."
Oishi let himself go still. He knew the importance of not pressuring animals or children to like him. He crouched down and held a hand out, but didn't try anything more. He let his natural gentleness exude from him in a wave, looking at the cat with a calm, reassuring gaze. He wasn't here to steal Karupin's master.
"We'll bring you leftovers," Oishi promised, smiling. "And I won't keep him out too late."
Ryoma raised an eyebrow. "He's not my keeper, yanno," he snarked, watching Karupin's reaction carefully. On rare occasions, Karupin would act friendly, but he'd have a mean look in his eyes.
Karupin blinked at the strange man, sniffed the air a little, and took a small step forward. Then another.
Ryoma was relieved that Karupin seemed only curious, instead of murderous like he had the last time a new face had been there. The last guy Ryoma'd had over had turned out to be a real jerk, so Ryoma put more trust in his cat's reaction than he had before.
Karupin sniffed a little harder, then closed the distance between himself and the new guy, nuzzling against the outstretched hand and purring.
"Looks like he likes you, Oishi-sa--... Oishi."
Oishi gently rubbed his finger between Karupin's ears, feeling the soft fur. "One problem with fish," Oishi said lightly, "is that they're not quite so nice to touch." Karupin was lovely. Oishi made a mental note to add catnip to Echizen's morning delivery of Ponta, water and fruit.
After a moment Oishi stood. "Shall we head to the cafe? I made reservations," he said, and felt momentarily like a fool. "I probably totally over-planned. I think I counted exactly how many steps it would take to get there too." He laughed. "See? I'm not sure I'm cut out for real dating. I tend to obsess like mad about everything."
Karupin twined himself around the new guy's legs, still purring. Ryoma batted him away. "Go on, Karupin. Git."
Ryoma watched Karupin scamper to the couch, then grabbed his keys from the small table by the door and shoved them into the pocket of his jacket. "I'm ready, yeah." He let Oishi out first, himself close behind. He shut the door and made sure it was locked before walking away from his door.
"As long as you can find someone who doesn't mind you being a little OCD, I don't see why you'd have a problem," he shrugged. It wouldn't bother him personally, as long as it was just Oishi being nervous. If he did weird stuff like that when he was perfectly relaxed...it might be weird.
Oishi pondered that as he led the way to the cafe. "My ex-wife...Sakurako. She got me to relax after a while," Oishi said, pondering. "I think it took a few swift thwaps to the back of my head before she convinced me that I didn't have to plan everything."
He laughed, remembering the days. "Once, she made me be spontaneous for a day. I planned what I'd spontaneously do with her for WEEKS. It's simply that I didn't want her to have a bad time..."
The cafe wasn't far from Echizen's apartment. They walked there side by side, and Oishi wondered if they looked like a strange couple, a timeworn man with a face softened by worry, and his shorter, handsome companion... "But a maid cafe? Sakurako wouldn't have been interested. I guess that's one good thing about being single." He shot Echizen a wry look. "I can explore everything now."
Ryoma stared at him a moment. "You...planned...being spontaneous? That kinda defeats the purpose, Oishi," he laughed, shaking his head. "That's...." He thought about it a moment. "That's so you." Oishi probably wouldn't know spontaneous if it bit him.
"It sounds like you have a lot to explore, too. Dating, guys, dating guys..." he snickered a little. "So...did you plan on asking me on this 'practice date', or was that spontaneous?" he asked, curious. Either way was explorative, though. Planning to ask someone he barely knew, or just...asking.
Oishi tilted his head and considered. Around him, the bustling streets of his city gave him a strange sense of anonymity, of freedom... He was used to a routine that shuttled him from work, to home, and back to work, with small stops in between on prescribed days at places where every shopkeeper knew his name. Oishi was conscientious; he always went to local shopping districts for his food purchases instead of supermarkets, to keep the old businesses alive...
Spontaneity, eh?
"Entirely spontaneous," Oishi said, blushing ever so slightly. "I just felt like we clicked somehow. That you wouldn't mind hanging out with a stick like me, and showing me how it's done."
They were almost there. The maid cafe's lights were bright, and a greeter in a Sailor Moon costume stood outside the door, gloves clenched demurely. "Welcome!" She said with a bright smile.
Ryoma shrugged. Truth be told, he'd felt a little of that click himself. And the thought of prying someone out of their shell...he found it kinda exciting, really. Like discovering that maybe, deep down inside, Oishi was the kind of guy who'd be into motorcycles and leather and BDSM....
...Yeah. Right.
He eyed the cosplay girl a little. Well. She was slim enough to wear a skirt that short. But it was still....really wierd. He figured if he was straight, or even bi, he'd think she was hot.
He leaned a little towards Oishi and whispered, "There is NO way I'm telling Oyaji about this place."
Oishi pondered that and laughed. He'd known people like that before, all the people he'd hung out with at his previous occupation.
Sailor Moon seated them at a booth, and he paused a moment to stare around.
"Yeah. The guys from my previous job were reasonably piggish about women. We were all married, but we'd go to karaoke bars and they'd always have something to say about the women there. I never did." Oishi shrugged slightly. "I suppose my politeness worked in my favor. They thought it was my upbringing that kept me from joining them in their running commentary. I suppose they were half right."
The shop was fascinating. It was so cute it was almost cloying -- with little pink-tableclothed booths and fancy teacups served by women in an assortment of intricate apparel.
One of them came up to them. She was wearing something strange. It looked like a sports team jersey, a silver one with black stripes, and a pair of white shorts. She had a short red pageboy haircut, and didn't look particularly feminine. Oishi smiled at her. "What are you?"
The girl just glared at him sullenly.
Oishi blinked.
"What do you want, already?" She asked. "Or have you been staring around too much to figure that out?"
She was totally using male language. Oishi blinked again. "Uhhh..."
"Oh come on. How bout you, hot stuff? Maybe you have more to say that idiot boy here." She turned to Echizen.
Ryoma smirked up at her and reigned in his snark, a little, as he replied. "You sure you're not a guy under that getup?"
She totally talked like one. Looked kinda like one too.
"Calling me 'hot stuff' would get you bonus points if you were. But you'd lose them all, for hitting on me in front of my boyfriend." He was teasing her completely, and being spontaneous like he was the definition of the word. Just for kicks.
He glanced at the menu, and ordered himself the curry and a glass of water, watching Oishi's face out of the corner of his eye.
The strange sports girl glared at Echizen, jotting something on her notepad. Oishi hoped it wasn't "spit on the curry" ... but his jaw was too slack to do anything more than stare blankly as the girl turned to him.
"What?" The girl snapped.
"Omurice..." Oishi cleared his throat and smiled reassuringly at her, but she the look she was giving them was already on the suspicious side.
"You sure you wanna date this one?" She said to Echizen. "He seems to be a little slow..."
Ryoma laughed. "He's just shy. It's adorable, I think," he grinned, patting Oishi's thigh like it was the most natural thing in the world.
He had the urge to kiss Oishi on the cheek. Partly to surprise the hell out of the older man, partly to heckle the waitress more. But that would probably cross comfort lines, so he refrained. As it was, he was probably pushing limits already.
He just kept smiling at her, hoping she'd go away soon. He should probably apologize to Oishi for being...that much of himself, without warning.
Oishi sucked in his breath at the touch to his thigh. Ahh. This was spontaneous, right. The waitress turned with a quick flip of her red hair, revealing a rather nice...hm. Oishi blinked. The gender-switching thing was confusing him greatly, as was the hand on his thigh.
He covered the hand on his thigh with one of his own and held it there firmly, smiling at Echizen. "Did you think you could take your hand back now?" He said, a little teasingly. It felt good there. It had been a long time.
"It doesn't really matter to me," Ryoma shrugged. He thought to himself that Oishi's hand on his...felt good, somehow. In ways none of his ex-boyfriends' ever had.
"I hope I didn't...freak you out or anything." Last thing he wanted was to make Oishi uncomfortable with the whole dating thing, even if this one was just practice. "I just couldn't help it. The urge to tease her was just...too strong..."
Oishi blinked, his face lighting with amusement. "I figured it out," he said. "Really. I was more pondering how to play along -- and realized that I didn't have any practice being someone's boyfriend. Someone male, that is."
He raised Echizen's hand to the table and turned it over in his. "My mom taught me how to read palms," he said, examining Echizen's. He'd done this a few times before -- the other person was always vaguely amused.
Oishi traced a finger down one of the lines on Echizen's palm, poking at it curiously.
Ryoma shrugged again. "I can't imagine it'd be any different from being boyfriend to a girl."
He watched Oishi trace a line on his palm, and tilted his head a little out of curiosity. "So. What's that one say?" he asked, one eyebrow raised.
He hoped it wasn't telling any kinds of embarrassing stories.
Oishi looked into Echizen's palm. He ran his thumb over the callous on the base of it -- a programmer's callous, where the wrist rested on the table in front of the keyboard. Then he pointed.
"This line going between your first two fingers is really deep. It means you're a loner by nature. Prefer following your own rhythms and having time to yourself."
Oishi showed Echizen the same place on his own palm. "Not there. Mine is over here." He pointed to where the line went between another two fingers. "It means that I tend to form close bonds with few people, but that I need someone in my 'tribe' to feel worthwhile." He chuckled. "I guess I need people to worry about."
The surly redhead came back and set down their orders, eyeing up their interlaced hands with a small gleam in her eye. Oishi wondered what she was thinking.
Ryoma grinned, unable to keep himself from teasing the waitress further, and scooted a little closer to Oishi. Close enough to rest his head on the older man's shoulder.
But he waited to say anything until the girl had left.
He pointed to another line on Oishi's palm, the one that ran from the center of the bottom of his palm, in a curve around the thumb, to about midway between thumb and index finger. "So, what's this one mean?"
Oishi looked sideway at Echizen, dark hair resting lightly on his shoulder, and took another breath. If this was practice, it was lovely. He stopped himself from turning his head and planting a small kiss on Echizen's forehead -- that would certainly be risking a good friendship.
"That's the lifeline," Oishi said softly, running Echizen's finger along his own palm. "It's strong and deep for me. Means I'm not easily controlled by other people."
He looked at Echizen's. "Same goes for you."
"Mm. True enough."
Ryoma used his other hand to pick up the spoon (grateful that this place had western utensils as well as chopsticks) and took a bite of his curry. He chewed and swallowed it. "Oh wow. It's actually pretty good," he commented
He took another bite and pondered breifly that he was glad he was ambidexterous, so he wouldn't have to take his hand from Oishi's to eat. Although Oishi might have to break the contact... Ryoma didn't know what hand the guy used.
Oishi stared. "Hm, I wonder how to read the palm of someone ambidextrous," he said, laughing. "My mom only told me how to read someone's 'dominant' hand." He pondered the interesting dillema, but then hunger overtook him.
He kept his left hand in Echizen's and picked up the fork. It was hard to eat Omurice with chopsticks. "This isn't bad." He leaned close to Echizen and whispered in his ear so that the servers couldn't hear him. "I make better. I'll make it for you sometime."
Ryoma chuckled. "You're reading my less-dominant hand, then. I'm generally a lefty."
He couldn't help the shiver at Oishi's breath against his ear.
"Yeah? I'll hold you to that, if you're not careful," he grinned, turning towards Oishi. Hell. Home-cooked food was good, no matter how he got it.
Oishi kept his head where it was. This was interesting. He was so close that a small move could brush their noses together.
"What do you think the waitress would do if we kissed each other?" Oishi whispered. "Think she'd go back home and write fanfiction?" He grinned.
Ryoma blushed, just a tiny bit across the bridge of his nose. "I dunno. But judging by the looks some of the other customers are giving us, I'm afraid you'd get your first lesson in ignoring the closed-minded," he whispered back, serious, but grinning.
He was honestly concerned about how Oishi would handle being called all the things he knew people could come up with for gays. Quite frankly, he'd rather the other guy never experience it at all.
That aside, he wasn't sure he'd mind if Oishi did try to kiss him. But Ryoma never kissed on the first date, let alone a practice one.
Oishi nodded seriously and backed away. "That wouldn't be a very nice first practice date," he said, but kept his hand laced in Echizen's, pulling it beneath the table.
"Have you ever experienced really bad homophobia?
Ryoma thought about it a moment, taking another bite of his curry.
"I've never directly been on the receiving end, no. But...the last guy I dated was. He broke up with me because of it. And I've heard the kinds of things people say." He shook is head. "Makes me sick to hear it," he finished, voice dripping with barely contained venom at the thought of what he'd heard.
Oishi nodded. They lived in an interesting world, that was clear. It was fine to buy all of the counterculture comics that he wanted, but not express affection in public... Not that it was seemly to express affection for a woman in public either. "I wonder what it would be like to live in a place like Amsterdam, or San Francisco," he said softly. "Must feel very freeing. But...I'd also wonder what my place was, without anything to guide me..."
Ryoma gave Oishi a curious look. "What do you mean, 'without anything to guide you'?" he asked.
"I guess I mean... in Japan, roles are always very clear cut. Or were... Up until last year I was the husband, the one who made money for my family. And I'd planned to have a child, too. We were even in the process. Sakurako had just stopped taking her birth control..." Oishi sighed, thought back. It had been such a strange year. "When I got the divorce, it was pretty sudden. And suddenly it felt like all of my old identities were gone."
Ryoma nodded. "I noticed that when we moved to Japan. I thought it was wierd, when my family moved here, how women were still expected to stay home and take care of the kids while the men were out working all the time."
His mom had spent her whole life in America, so she'd taught him American roles, which, essentially, boiled down to 'do what you want'.
"Kaa-san made sure I understood that there were gender stereotypes. And then she told me to ignore them or play into them however I wanted." Ryoma shrugged. "Generally, I ignore them. I'm just...me. Do what I want, when I want, how I want to."
Oishi nodded. "My ex and I weren't very traditional, gender-wise. Sakurako worked just like I did. Some of my coworkers accused me of letting her wear the pants..." Oishi shrugged. "Who made the decisions didn't matter to me, as long as we were both reasonably happy with the results."
He smiled at Echizen. "Your mom sounds great."
"Sounds like you guys were more American in your roles, then," he smiled.
Ryoma thought about his mom, and his dad, and the two of them together.
"Kaa-san's great...she worries a lot, though." He chuckled. "Kinda like you."
"But I have no idea how or why she puts up with Oyaji. He's married to her. He can have as many perverted thoughts as he wants about her. But he's always looking at those dirty magazines and hitting on other women," Ryoma said, shaking his head. "She should kick his ass to the curb, but she won't."
Ryoma just didn't get it.
"There are a lot of reasons why people stay together," Oishi said, stroking his thumb lightly over Ryoma's palm. "Complicated ones... I think I knew I was gay from my teen years on, but when my family wanted me to be straight and get married, I didn't say no. I did what they wanted... And to be honest, it wasn't a bad life." Oishi thought back, feeling a bit bleak. "It just wasn't an honest life."
"Your mom might love your dad for other reasons. Love is pretty complex."
Ryoma thought about that. "Mmmm...I guess. Still. I kinda feel like he's cheating on her when he does that. And she's the one who told me not to stand for being cheated on." He shrugged. "I'll probably never understand either of them."
And he could understand Oishi, being afraid to do anything but be straight. Ryoma himself had been really nervous when he told his oyaji that he shouldn't be expecting grandkids...ever. He gave Oishi's palm a squeeze, wanting the guy to cheer up.
Oishi nodded. "Yes, I can see how it seems like cheating." Oishi's forehead creased. Echizen's father sounded...horrible. "You're incredibly well-adjusted for having a father like that.
He'd save his own story about cheating -- and about how he realized he was gay -- for another time. It was a little too deep for a maid cafe...
Ryoma nudged Oishi lightly. The other guy seemed like he wasn't quite on the same planet anymore, and it seemed like Ryoma had hit some kind of nerve with Oishi. He tried to think of a different line of conversation...
"Er...so. How'd that blood drive go?"
Hey. It was all he could come up with. God, he sucked at conversation sometimes.
The meal was almost done. In the background, a set of girls dressed up in Victorian era outfits were waltzing slowly together to classical music. Oishi poked Echizen in the ribs and stared. "This seems very unreal, all at once," Oishi said, laughing. "Doesn't seem like the Tokyo that I know."
Oishi pondered Echizen's question. "It was nice, if that isn't weird," he admitted. "I got to meet people. And you learn alot about someone when you've got a needle in their arm. Like with you -- I learned that you're incredibly brave. You didn't want to do it, but you did anyway. I think that's what I admired about you most, when I first met you."
Ryoma chuckled. "It is like a whole different universe in here. Kinda wierd."
He blushed a little at the compliment. "I don't know that I'd call it brave. Just...supporting the people who do things I'd never even think of doing. Seriously...risking my life for something? I dunno...I don't think I could do it." He shook his head a little. No way.
"It's funny. Sometimes I wonder about my motivation for joining this company." Oishi let his voice go very soft. "I know it has to do with pride in my country -- and I feel it. But...sometimes I wonder whether a more global perspective wouldn't help solve a whole lot of these issues. I mean, look at you -- you grew up in America and came here, and... I think you more than anyone know and understand that everyone's human."
Unpopular opinion to have, working for their company. "I wouldn't want to risk my life either. I'd rather live quietly for a cause than die nobly for it."
"Honestly...I think you give me too much credit. It's a job, it pays the bills," Ryoma shrugged. "There's very little I'd die for, regardless of how noble it might be." Maybe he was just jaded.
"But it's good that you've got pride in your country and all that patriotic stuff. I've never really had it. Politics are just way over my head, and what little I do understand is stupid or pointless or childish bickering over little things, so it makes me not want to try to understand it."
"But hell yeah, everybody's human. No one person can make the world a perfect place. Even if every person on earth worked together, there'd still be flaws. It's just the way it is." Ryoma had always been that way.
But speaking of meeting people... "You know, you're really the only person I've met. I mean, I know some of the other tech guys well enough to know their face and name, but that's really about it." He should probably get out more.
Ahh...right... "Well." Oishi gulped and tried to hide his blush behind the cup of tea. "Uh. Sengoku-san, one of the fellow programmers, asked if I'd like to join him on a...a. Double date. Would you...like to join me?" Oishi slid his eyes sideways to meet Echizen's and smiled. "I think Oshitari will be there too. I haven't met him in person yet." But Oishi had seen Oshitari and Sengoku making out in Sengoku's office. Oishi was glad he hadn't been stopping by to say hello at the time... Oishi wondered whether security cameras were placed in people's offices, and whether Sengoku even cared.
"It would be a real date, though," Oishi said, averting his eyes and blushing even more. Why did he feel sixteen again?
Ryoma blinked, then flushed a little, then kinda stared. Oishi was...cute, when he was blushing like that. Made him seem...younger, in a way.
And...a real date...with Oishi. That would be nice... Ryoma found that he really was liking the older guy. He was...a little wierd at times, but...no one had ever accused Ryoma himself of going for 'normal'.
He started to reply with a nonchalant 'sure, I'll go', but for as shy as Oishi looked, Ryoma was afraid Oishi would think he didn't care one way or the other. So he rephrased his thoughts. "I'd like that, Oishi," he replied, smiling. He gave the older man's hand a squeeze.
And then Oishi felt a strange rush of giddiness, and fear. This was nothing like the intense lust of his interaction with the only man he'd been with. This was instead like...hm. Like a slow gentle tickle to his skin, opening up more emotions than just one.
The redhead came back and threw their check down on the table, stomping off without a word. Oishi tucked some money into the bill and hesitated.
"I have no idea whether or not to leave a tip," Oishi said, laughing. "She might be perfectly in character."
Ryoma laughed a little and glanced around the place, to see if she was the only grouchy one or not. Most of the other waitresses looked like they were being pleasant, smiling and blushing and calling their customers "master". From what he could see, she was the odd one out.
"My guess would be not. If the theme of this place was grouchy, all the servers would be doing it." He nodded towards one table where the waitress had gotten particularly cozy with the customer, going so far as to be sitting in his lap. "Looks like the other girls are being perfectly friendly."
Oishi pondered for a moment more and gave the girl a healthy tip anyway. If he was being paid barely subsistent wages and expected to dress up for it, he'd probably be a little surly too.
And then Oishi stood and firmly recaptured Echizen's hand. He smiled at the other man. "Do I walk you to your door now?" He asked. He wasn't a big reader of romance fiction, nor did he watch TV. Plus, he had no idea whether another man would consider that sort of thing insulting -- wasn't it to insure that his date was safely seen to the door?
Ryoma thought about it, then shrugged. "You can, if you'd like." He wouldn't try to force Oishi, but he certainly wouldn't complain.
Besides, Oishi walking him home meant they spent just that much more time together. And...a bit to his own surprise, he found himself wanting to spend more time with the other guy.
Oishi stopped at the doorway and pondered. If he walked hand-in-hand with another man down the streets of his staid and modest city, he'd get more than stares. It didn't bother him (although he worried about offending people), but it did make him worry about Echizen.
Oishi unlaced his fingers from Echizen's with a feeling of regret, and settled for walking next to him.
"What're you up to tomorrow at work?" Oishi asked a bit curiously. He pondered his own workload and made a mental note to check the Ponta cases that were steadily stacking up in the storeroom.
Ryoma's hand felt empty, now that Oishi had let go. Though he could probably make a good guess about why, so he let it go, reluctantly, and instead walked beside the other man, closer than he had on the way to the cafe.
"Nothing interesting. Debugging a program or two, coding a little. The usual," he shrugged, stuffing his hands into the back pockets of his jeans, trying to fend off the urge to take Oishi's hand again.
It wasn't a long walk. Oishi kept the conversation going about trivial things, his mind on something else entirely. There was a chill to the air -- finally, in October, the weather had turned. Echizen looked cold in his soft, tight-fitting shirt...Oishi pondered his mixture of emotions. He wanted to wrap himself around the smaller man and make him warm. In a purely platonic way. Except for the impulse to turn it into something else entirely -- to see how warm he could make Echizen's skin beneath that shirt.
Oishi took a deep breath and let the thoughts float away on the autumn breeze. "Are you cold?" He asked gently, and before Echizen could say anything, took off his coat and draped it over the other man's shoulders.
There. An indirect hug.
Ryoma blinked in surprise. That was...unexpected. But cute. And it made him think, a little.
The last guy who'd tried to do something like that to Ryoma had gotten yelled at. Ryoma was usually fine to suffer the weather along with whomever he was around, instead of letting the other suffer while he was nice and comfortable. But...for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to yell at Oishi for it.
Instead, he accepted the gesture and threaded his arms into the sleeve of the too-big jacket.
Ah, what the hell.
He gave into himself a little and took Oishi's hand back in his and smiled. "...Aren't you cold, now?" he asked, feeling strangely shy as he spoke.
Oishi laughed.
"It's the mother in me. If someone else is cold, my body warms right up. Biological fact -- mothers warm up to the temperature their infant needs, when resting against their skin."
Oishi laughed again, this time at himself. "That probably sounds incredibly weird, doesn't it. I don't mean to imply that I'm your mom. Just that I'm not cold. Maybe it has nothing to do with being motherly at all."
It probably didn't. From the way Oishi felt himself react at that light hand touch in his.
Ryoma laughed too. He almost commented "but I'm not right against your skin", but that brought to mind images he hadn't expected. He mentally shook them out of his head. Maybe he'd ponder over them later, but...it was better that he not, right now.
"I know what you meant, Oishi," he grinned, ignoring the look a passer-by shot their way. If he'd been feeling incredibly snarky, he would have just flicked them off, but the gesture didn't quite seem right with Oishi there.
And despite the looks...he was really glad the other man hadn't tried to let go of his hand again. He had that bold but shy feeling again, and walked a little closer to Oishi so the length of their arms touched. Which earned them even more wary looks that Ryoma just pleasantly ignored. He'd had lots of practice ignoring those kinds of idiots.
Oishi took a deep breath and steadied his nerves. So this was coming out, eh? It felt nerve-wracking. Oishi felt the strange simultaneous need to defiantly smile at and apologize to everyone who passed. He wasn't sure which impulse would win.
Finally they came to Echizen's apartment and he let out a sigh of relief. He felt strangely exhausted from their walk, and shot Echizen a slightly wry glance.
"Wow. So this is being gay."
Ryoma laughed good and hard. Not meaning to insult Oishi, just at how much he'd restrained himself and the older man looked like he was about to have some kind of heart attack.
When he finally composed himself, he looked up at Oishi, one eyebrow raised. "If you think that was stressful..." He shook his head. "One of my exes and I used to go out of our way to let everybody that saw us know we were gay. We made out in the middle of a park on a Sunday afternoon, once." He laughed at the memory. "People would shout all kinds of things at us, and we'd just ignore them, or one of us would take a moment and flick the person off. The moms would cover their kids' eyes and tell them not to look, and we'd just laugh." Of course, Ryoma had been a teenager then, so that was more a part of his rebellious phase than a part of him personally. "I haven't done shit like that in years, though."
Ryoma had been tempted to do it tonight with Oishi, but for the other man's sake he'd held himself back. He didn't care if other people saw or knew, but he wasn't sure Oishi was comfortable enough with his homosexuality to survive it.
Oishi couldn't restrain the blush. He laughed and covered his face with a hand. "I've been doing the right thing for so long that it's a shock to the system to do anything that someone might not like," he admitted.
But then a thought occurred to him. Being gay wasn't all bad, because... Oishi stepped closer to Echizen, gripped the smaller man around the shoulders, and wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close. Hugged him tightly for a moment.
"Thanks," Oishi whispered in Echizen's ear, feeling the softly electric charge of another man's body against his. "For showing me all of that."
Ryoma blinked and blushed, suddenly finding himself pressed against Oishi. From what he could tell...the older man had good muscle tone to him... And those unexpected images about being right against his skin floated back, making Ryoma very glad that as long as he stayed like this, Oishi wouldn't be able to see him blushing.
He took a deep breath...wow. Oishi...smelled really good. He wondered if the other guy was wearing some kind of cologne, or if that was just the way he smelled.
Ryoma pulled his mind out of those thoughts, storing them away for later. "You're welcome," he replied softly. "And I really hope you never have to see the bad side...how ugly it can be sometimes. Until you're really used to it, the looks, the name-calling, the insults...they hurt. And...in a way, it's really sad to think how used to it a person can get." Ryoma himself was very used to it, which might have something to do with why he flaunted it, sometimes.
Almost shyly, Ryoma wrapped his arms around Oishi, prolonging the contact. Oishi felt...really warm...and really comfortable.
Oishi felt the arms go around him and shivered just a bit. Oh -- boy.
Okay. For this feeling, for the feeling of being in the right place at the right time with the right man, he'd brave any amount of stares.
Gently Oishi ruffled his fingers through Echizen's hair. Found a bit of bravery inside of himself. Leaned down and softly kissed Echizen's floppy bangs.
"I enjoyed being with you."
Ryoma blushed brightly and, for the first time that night, found himself wishing he had his cap on so he could pull it down and hide his face.
This...was new...and kinda freaky. He'd only known Oishi for a few weeks...this was only their first date - and not even a real one at that - and yet...the level of comfort he felt around the older man was higher than with any of his exes.
"I...really enjoyed it too," he replied quietly, forcing his blushing to go away.
And then Karupin yowled from inside the apartment.
Oishi heard the yowl and pulled away, almost sheepishly. "I'll see you Monday." It was more a statement than a question. Oishi smiled. He could always pull the Ponta card.
"Yeah...see you Monday..." Ryoma pulled his key out of his pocket and unlocked the door, opening it a little. He started to go inside, then paused, thinking.
He turned back towards Oishi, took the step or two needed to close the distance between them again, stood on his tip-toes and quickly kissed Oishi's cheek. Then, without waiting for a reaction of any kind, he dashed into his apartment and shut the door behind him.
He leaned back against the door and could feel the heat in his cheeks, his heart beating nervously in his chest. He hadn't felt like this since his first date ever...and that...was nothing compared to this.
Karupin meandered around his feet, mewling softly. Ah...right. The cat probably needed food...
Oishi's breath sucked in and he felt dizzy. Echizen's lips were on his cheek, and then the man was gone. He touched the tingling skin with his fingertips, turned in a daze, and floated his way down the stairs.
Oishi was halfway home before he realized that he was a little cold.
Oh -- right.
Oishi smiled.