Hirato/Gareki 2
Their evening meal was a horrible affair on Gareki’s side. He was seated beside Nai, Tsukumo opposite him and (luckily) Hirato at the end of the table by Yogi and Nai.
“More wine, Hirato-san~?” Yogi asked cheerfully.
“Yes, thank you, Yogi.” Hirato’s deep voice replied. The sound of wine hitting the empty glass was muffled by Nai’s excited chattering about his study session with Tsukumo. He constantly watched Gareki’s expression eagerly as he recited the new knowledge he’d gained but unfortunately for the niji, Gareki was focussed on shoving food into his face. Geez he was so hungry all of a sudden!
Someone kicked him from beneath the table.
“Ow!” he exclaimed, dropping his piece of meat and glared across the table at Tsukumo and Yogi suspiciously. Nai was still happily talking to anyone who would listen, so it could not have been him. Gareki’s eyes narrowed as Yogi leaned towards him and whispered not-so-quietly, “Gareki! Nai was talking to you!”
As if Gareki didn’t know that. But he was hungry, dammit!
Shooting Yogi a poisonous look, he jabbed his fork at the blond. “You keep him busy! Can’t you see I’m eating?”
“Uwah, Gareki’s so mean! Tsukumo-chaaan, that’s no way to treat friend, isn’t it?”
Gareki deadpanned, “Who says I’m your friend.”
Yogi’s eyes started to water. This was a routine that happened daily and Gareki just huffed in irritation, reaching forward to stab at a vegetable on the large plate in front of Nai.
Just then, Nai seemed to remember something and jerked. “Ah! Gareki, Yogi, Hirato-san! Tsukumo and I baked for you guys today!”
“Hm?” Hirato questioned. He lightly rolled his wine around his mouth, chopsticks simultaneously gathering a mouthful of rice from his bowl. The sheep had cooked a well-balanced selection of dishes as usual, and while he didn’t usually eat with the other four, seeing Gareki’s annoyed face after their encounter was amusing.
“I’ll ask the sheep to get them!” Nai turned and twittered to the sheep, who let out a Baa and turned towards the table by the door. On it, sat a tray of baked desserts, ranging from eclairs to sponges to danishes, covered with a lace net for protection from the dust and the like.
Gareki eyed the tray apprehensively as it drew closer. He pushed the last of his rice into his mouth and chewed as the desserts were slid onto the end of table beside him. At a distance, they may have looked fine, but on closer inspection they were quite misshapen.
Gareki face must have shown it, because Tsukumo blushed a little. “Ah, gomen, we had some trouble with the dough.” She kept her eyes low and on the baked goods, not wanting see Yogi and Hirato eye her and Nai’s work as Gareki had done.
“Mm, yeah!” Nai interjected. “But they taste yummy!”
Tsukumo couldn’t help but look up then at Nai with a smile. “Yeah…”
“W-w-WOW!” Yogi exclaimed. “You made these for us?? Wahh! Thanks Tsukumo-chan, Nai-chan! Can we really eat them?” He leaned across the table to look at them.
“Of course,” Tsukumo said. “We specially made them for you!” Nai chimed.
“Hmm… which one should I have…” Yogi pondered.
While the blond was still thinking, Gareki carefully examined each individual dessert. While they were kind of oddly shaped, the fragrant scent they gave off and the decent-looking quality of the treats (disregarding the occasional burnt areas) had him deciding to consume one. Tsukumo’s let-down expression from before also didn’t sit perfectly fine and he somewhat regretted judging so quickly. So, without hesitation, he reached for an éclair.
“Eh? You’re having one, Gareki-kun?” Tsukumo said in surprise.
“Mm.” Gareki said in reply, looking at his pick from the top and sides. “What’s in it?”
“Um… Vanilla custard or chocolate! It’s a surprise,” Nai said, excited that he had gotten Gareki to try one of them. Gareki had been so silent during the meal today that he thought Gareki might be angry about something.
“Ooh, I want one too!” Yogi said and reached for another éclair. “Which one would you like, Hirato?”
“A sponge, please.”
“Here you go~”
“Nai? Do you want another one?” Tsukumo asked kindly.
“Ummmm… I want that one there,” he replied, pointing at the apricot Danish that sat at the far end of the tray. Tsukumo lifted it up with its paper wrapper underneath and handed it to Nai. She took the last remaining dessert - another sponge.
“Itadakimasu!” Yogi declared, and chomped into his éclair.
At the same time, Gareki bit into his, mildly hoping it was the vanilla custard because his meal had been quite heavy and the richness of chocolate would simply upset his stomach.
“Oooh,” Yogi mumbled through a mouthful. “This is so good…”
“Hmm, I agree. You two did a good job,” Hirato said.
Tsukumo blushed very slightly and Nai seemed to perk up at the praise.
“Argh!”
All heads whipped towards the source of the noise and Tsukumo held back a surprised chuff of amusement behind her hand delicately. Yogi had his mouth open and Nai looked like he was unsure of what to do.
“Gareki! Are you alright?” he fretted, trying to put down his Danish and move to help his friend at the same time.
“Ugh…” Gareki grumbled in disgust. He stared at the dripping dessert with hate. As soon as he had bitten into it, it had effectively opened up an exit point for the too-runny custard to burst through - he hadn’t been able to turn the dessert upright before a copious amount of the sticky filling had drip onto his hands through his fingers, slowly running down his forearm to his elbow. He should have picked something else. Gareki could feel custard on his bottom lip too, dripping down the corner of his mouth and chin. He quickly swallowed his mouthful and licked whatever he could from his lower lip.
He leaned the dreadful bomb-like éclair against his plate carefully, mindful to keep it mostly upright in order to not upset the runny custard again. That wasn’t an éclair at all - it was a bread sack of sugar, Gareki thought darkly.
“Here, Gareki-kun,” Yogi said, helpfully handing him a mass of tissues. He had recovered in seconds, letting the very strange thoughts that suddenly popped into his head dissipate. He smiled widely at the irritated teen, lips smeared with chocolate.
Gareki huffed and grabbed them with his left hand, unconsciously having lifted his right to his lips. He swept his tongue along the back of his hand, taking in the sweet flavour of the custard, before wiping himself clean.
“… It doesn’t taste too bad. Just don’t make it so runny next time, alright?” he grumbled.
Nai and Tsukumo let out tiny sighs of relief at Gareki’s non-explosive reaction. They had thought for sure that there would be yelling - Tsukumo was grateful to the teen for keeping Nai’s confidence intact. She smiled lightly at him, meeting his eyes. Gareki saw the message and blinked, looking away as he wiped his elbow.
The room was filled with noise and laughter again as Yogi and Nai (and occasionally Tsukumo) resumed chatting happily once the disaster was averted.
Hirato’s eyes bored into Gareki across the length of the table as he consumed his sponge gradually. The teen was clearly thinking about how and whether he was going to attempt to finish off the damned eclair and it made Hirato smirk. Eventually, Gareki gathered more tissues and lodged them beneath his plate on standby and carefully picked up the sticky confection with his right hand. Since half the custard was effectively missing, he nibbled at the edges of the éclair until it was approximately a finger’s width away from where the top of the filling pooled within the well of bread. Hirato’s smirk dropped a little. Gareki’s pink tongue came out to lap at the custard, much like a kitten would do to a saucer of milk, and he alternated between that and nibbling at the bread. The pastry gradually got smaller.
The last few bites had Gareki getting his fingers sticky and coated in the filling. While he tugged the wad of tissues from beneath his plate with one hand, he sucked on the backs of his other digits to remove a portion of the mess. Hirato’s smirk darkened and his eyes watched Gareki with intent.
“My, my, you’ve made such a mess of yourself today, Gareki,” Hirato said suddenly, amusement shading his voice.
Yogi shot him a questioning look then glanced at Gareki, who looked perfectly fine to him. He shrugged it off as a weird Hirato thing and continued talking to Nai and Tsukumo.
Gareki definitely caught Hirato’s words though, and he shot the captain a prickly look. He stiffened at the look in Hirato’s eyes though. It was uncomfortably similar to the one he’d received when they… something happened in his room. Probably thinking perverted things, that shitty bastard, he thought to himself. He looked away pointedly and became gradually absorbed into the other conversation.
Hirato laughed quietly to himself as he polished off the rest of his cake and poured himself some more wine. He was definitely thinking perverted things.
---
“Hey, what’s up with you?” Tsukitachi asked, scrutinizing the other man over the rim of his glass. He didn’t have anything planned after his meeting with the Second Ship’s captain so he decided to hang around for a little while.
“Hm?” Hirato replied. He continued to type on the holographic keyboard, data streaming across the screen in front of him as he worked.
“I said, something’s on your mind. Are you plotting again, Hirato?” Tsukitachi chugged back the shot.
Hirato raised his eyebrow, looking over at the other captain. “Whatever makes you think I’m plotting something?”
Tsukitachi laughed. “Honestly, when are you not?”
Hirato’s gaze returned to the blue screen. “Speak for yourself, Tsukitachi. For your information, it’s merely an experiment that I’m trialling. I don’t think you need to know any more than that - it does not involve you.”
“Wow, thank you for telling me. Guess I don’t have to worry for my safety, then.”
“I didn’t say there weren’t other things on my mind.”
Tsukitachi laughed again. “That’s very like you, Hirato.”
He poured another glass and downed it, leaning back heavily in the chair. “Ah…… guess I’ll keep an eye out for the results of your experiment. It should be interesting.”
Hirato chuckled privately. He had no idea.
---
Gareki was frustrated. There were four volumes to the series on the specifics of transmitter mecha that he was making his way through, but the fourth volume was nowhere to be found in the on-board library. He sighed in irritation, slumping back into a soft sofa seat in the well-lit room. Perhaps it was available on the First Ship? But they were not due to meet the other ship until next week. Gareki’s curiosity could not last that long! He thirsted for that knowledge just out of his grasp. Wait. That four-eyes had a pretty big collection of books in his office. Perhaps it had been put there by mistake.
But then Gareki groaned. He didn’t want to go anywhere near that place. For the past few days ever since that… kiss… in his room, he had been purposely avoiding the captain. Surprisingly, he’d been able to pull it off, which made Gareki think that the bastard was really staying out of sight on purpose. Damn that irritated him. But if it mean Gareki didn’t have to look at his face, it was fine.
He looked at the clock ticking innocently on the wall. 4:09PM; the asshole should still out at the Research Tower. Gareki wracked his brains to remember what Yogi had said that morning.
“I - I have to go to the Research Tower today, Gareki-kuuuun! Wahhhh!”
No, not that.
“Hirato-san is coming with me later. He said he had a meeting with Akari-sensei until 5! Ugh, so much time spent with A-akari-sensei…”
That was what he was looking for. 4:11PM, the clock said now. Gareki stood up - if he was going to look for that book, he should move now just in case the captain came back early!
---
As Gareki swept his eyes along the shelves, he groaned. He didn’t think the categorization would make next to no sense! The mecha books were beside the life medicine ones and everything was simply in no discernible pattern.
His eyes flicked to the clock - 4:20PM. He had already spent too long. He had to hurry if he didn’t want to run into the older man.
Time seemed to tick away too quickly as Gareki made his way systematically from the first bookshelf to the next to the third. There were a total of eight and glancing at the clock, Gareki cursed. 4:40PM.
To his surprise, he found what he was looking for at the top of the fourth shelf. Reaching up, he cursed as his fingers couldn’t reach the top of the spine. The books were packed so firmly there was no way he’d be able to pull it out any other way. Goddamn it! Who put their books like this!?
Suddenly, a gloved hand reached above his hand and easily slid the book from the shelf. Gareki froze.
“Gareki,” Hirato greeted. Gareki turned around with a scowl. “Is this what you were after?”
Gareki snatched the offending book from Hirato’s grasp. “Yeah. …I didn’t need your help.”
Hirato smiled. Gareki thought it was creepy. “Of course you didn’t. I could see you were reaching it just fine.” He took in Gareki’s offended glare and changed the subject. “I don’t appreciate you entering my office without my permission.”
Gareki’s eyes darted to the side as Hirato’s tone of voice became more serious.
Hirato continued. “Unless of course, you were waiting for me…” His voice had dropped to a purr.
“Ugh, no way.” Gareki slipped out from between Hirato and the bookshelf.
To his surprise, Hirato didn’t stop him. When he curled back in his bed, he found himself unable to focus as something tugged at the pit of his stomach uncomfortably.
---
Hirato watched with veiled pleasure as Gareki seemed to be thinking very deeply about something at the dinner table. His decision to leave the teen to his thoughts was working the way he wanted to - Hirato wanted him to realise that he was missing something, and that would make the chase all that much better.
Gareki forked food into his mouth mechanically, mind still wandering and trying to work out why he was feeling so off-balanced. He shot a glance up at the four-eyed bastard. He had something to do with this, Gareki just knew it.
Could it be… that he was expecting the captain to harass him? Had it become a part of his regular routine already that when it didn’t happen… No.
There was no way that was the cause.
But…
---
Hirato cornered Gareki that evening as the teen strolled from the common room back to his bedroom with Nai.
“Nai,” Hirato said with a smile. “I need to speak to Gareki-kun for a moment. Could you please go back to your room first?”
“Uh, okay!” Nai replied brightly. “Come on, hitsugi! You’ll come with me right?”
“Baa!”
When they turned the corner, Hirato turned to Gareki’s flat stare. “What is it now?”
His smile turned into a smirk. “Have you thought about it?” he said.
“What?”
Hirato backed Gareki into the wall, the teen looking around in alarm for sheep or other crew members that could potentially walk past and see them - !
Wait. See what.
“I see that you understand now, Gareki.” Hirato said, pleased. His eyes darkened and he curled his hands around Gareki’s wrists to hold him steady.
Gareki was still reeling from the unexpected thought his mind decided to spit out at him and he didn’t see the lips descend onto his own. He gasped involuntarily and a tongue slithered into his mouth.
“Mmn!” he mumbled around the invading muscle. “Hmmmn! Mmm! Mm…”
Slowly, he relaxed as the foreign sensation began to make his head heady with fog. He could feel himself losing himself. Tentatively, his own tongue reached forward to tangle with the captain’s. The effect was instantaneous - sparks flew behind his eyes (when had he closed them?) and the other man drew him closer, pressing him close until all his senses were filled with Hirato. Gareki inhaled the man’s natural, musky scent blended with the clean sharp smell of soap and moaned lightly against Hirato’s mouth.
Shocking himself with the noise, he pulled back, flushed face staring up at the captain. Reddened lips curled into a smirk in front of his eyes and he couldn’t help but be drawn to them. Unknowingly, he licked his lips.
Hirato watched the motion, heat starting to pool in his stomach. The teen really didn’t know how delectable he looked with his lips pouty and red, cheeks lightly blushed and eyes reflecting his desire. Hirato opened his mouth, somewhat surprised at how low and husky his voice had gotten, “Gareki, do you fully understand?”
Gareki seemed to gather himself and while he was in shock, he couldn’t deny the pounding of his heart and the way he just wanted to lean back in and continue what they were doing. “… Yeah,” he muttered.
“What was that?” Hirato asked, wanting to hear Gareki say it with more conviction.
“I said,” Gareki bit out. “Yeah, I get it.”
He averted his eyes from the captain’s pleased, piercing gaze. “Now, get off. I’m going to bed.”
Hirato just chuckled in mirth. “Ten minutes.” He released the teen.
Gareki sent him a confused, troubled look before spinning on his heel and headed quickly towards his room. Ten minutes…? What was he going on about?
Hirato watched him leave, expression hardened suddenly. “Tsukumo,” he said.
A sharp intake of breath was heard above him. He looked up, face carefully blank. “Come here.”
Tsukumo dropped onto the corridor floor with a flurry of motion, quickly standing. She had a look of shock and sadness displayed clearly on her face.
“You should know better than to eavesdrop, Tsukumo.” Hirato admonished dangerously. “I trust you to keep what you’ve seen today to yourself.” It wasn’t a request.
Tsukumo swallowed her tears. “H-hai.”
Hirato sighed. “I apologize for upsetting you,” he said. “I ask you to please not change your behaviour to Gareki-kun.”
Tsukumo nodded, not trusting her voice. But she had to know… “Why him, Hirato-san?” Her voice broke in the middle and tears shone unshed in her large expressive eyes.
Hirato just watched her hold herself together with some regret. “I’m truly sorry for letting you see that, Tsukumo. Gareki…” he trailed off, a contemplative tone in his voice. “Gareki interests me.”
“Why can’t I interest you, Hirato-san!” Tsukumo cried out. “You don’t know how long I’ve - I’ve - ” she broke off, unable to continue without completely embarrassing herself in front of this man she admired so much.
“I’m sorry,” Hirato said simply.
Tsukumo bowed her head in defeat. “… I understand.” She whispered, disappearing in a blur as she dashed away.
Hirato sighed, running a hand through his hair. What a mess. He’d always known about how Tsukumo had felt about him, and on rare occasions, even encouraged a little for interest’s sake. But now, something about Gareki held him fast.
As he walked past the teen and the niji’s shared room, he heard, “Ne, Gareki-kun? What do you understand? Did Hirato-san teach you something good?” “SHUT UP, YOU ANIMAL.” He continued to his quarters with an amused smirk.
---
Gareki bit back a groan, knowing how sensitive the sleeping niji’s hearing was.
It was just past dawn, hours before he would normally be awake, but a practically X-rated dream had him starting awake. He flipped back the blanket and looked down at his lap in trepidation - as he expected, his couldn’t count on his body to maintain some mode of control and a bulge clearly showed through his thin cotton sleep pants.
Dammit! He flopped back onto the bed with a hand over his face. That shitty four-eyes!
After that detour in the hallway a few days prior, he had been having those dreams that involved things he never thought he’d be interested in. So far, he had found that lying quietly in bed trying to come to terms with it helped to manage his morning problem and it usually disappeared by the time they were supposed to wake up. Unfortunately, days of forcibly retaining his seed in this fashion had Gareki extremely sensitive today.
He shuddered as he recalled vividly real phantom hands raking down his thighs. This was not good.
Making a decision, he quietly climbed down the ladder to plant his feet on the floor and made his way to the bathroom. Closing the door behind him, he didn’t notice a shadow detach itself from the corner of his room and follow him.
Gareki turned on shower taps to a pleasant warmth before shedding his clothes. The shivered as cool morning bathroom air made contact with his skin. Goosebumps rose on his arm and he quickly stepped into the shower stall. His clothes lay in a heap on the countertop. He had never found it necessary to lock the door because the niji’s hearing could always pick up if the bathroom was in use (well, he had needed to beat the fact that two males didn’t use the bathroom together into Nai the first time round). So, as steam slowly filled the room, Gareki didn’t see the door click open and closed again.
However, a shadow flicked on the other side of the transparent glass wall. Gareki’s head whipped up and his heart beat started to pick up. What the… His hands slowly pat down the contents lining the small inbuilt shelf on the wall of the cubicle, hoping that he could find something to defend himself with if whatever in the bathroom with him was more than just his imagination.
The door opened slowly, and of all things, Hirato appeared. Gareki yelled and projected a shampoo bottle at his face.
“WHAT THE HELL!?!!!!” he screamed, not caring if Nai woke up anymore. What the HELL was this guy doing in the bathroom while he was in the shower?!
“Keep your voice down,” Hirato said smoothly.
“WHAT?! GET OUT! THIS IS A BATHROOM!”
Gareki realised with horror that he was standing stark naked and aroused before the bastard. “GET OUT, GET OUT!” he yelled, shoving his wet hands against broad shoulders. Gareki vaguely noted that the normally impeccably dressed captain was down to an untucked dress shirt, unbelted trousers and his usual boots. But Gareki didn’t care to think about that at the moment. He was being traumatised.
Effectively shoving himself out of the shower stall and past Hirato, he grabbed the bath towel sitting beside his sleeping outfit and wrapped it around his waist, hiding his private area. He turned to give the older man a piece of his mind!
“You - you - just - ” he spluttered. “I was in the shower!”
Hirato put up his hands in surrender. “Don’t get upset, I - ”
“DON’T GET UPSET!?” Gareki repeated incredulously. “What kind of person walks in on somebody in the shower?!!”
Hirato sighed. “Let me explain.” He appeared to back away a little bit, but then he was suddenly in front of the teen, hand tangled painfully in Gareki’s hair as Hirato gripped it.
“You… You can’t tempt me like this, Gareki, and expect me to walk away.” He said lowly. “I need…”
He dropped his head into the crook of Gareki’s neck and inhaled. Gareki was shocked at the older man’s actions - what was wrong with him?
“You probably suspected, but every single room aside from bathrooms are monitored.” Hirato continued. “You don’t know how much I wanted to come to you these past nights, when you’re gasping my name in your sleep.”
Gareki reddened. WHAT? He’d done those things?! Oh god. But that doesn’t give the shitty bastard the right to -
“Let me touch you, Gareki.”
“HAH?”
Hirato’s dilated eyes turned to stare into Gareki’s. He leaned in a whispered into Gareki’s ear, “I can give you the release you want.”
Gareki slugged him, panting.
Hirato reeled back more in shock than pain. His jaw throbbed lightly as he stared at Gareki’s bowed head.
Gareki looked up with angry eyes. “Don’t say that. I don’t want this from you. Get out.” His voice shook, and he hoped it came off as rage instead of the biting arousal that he felt uncoil inside of him at Hirato’s aggressiveness.
Hirato was not fooled. His expression darkened. With a flash, he had grabbed the teen, whipping off the towel and pressed them both back under the shower spray. Hirato’s white shirt became instantly transparent and Gareki gasped as rough cotton brushed against his still-engorged erection.
“You’re still hard, Gareki.” Hirato said into his ear, nipping lightly. Gareki shivered and raised his hands to push the older man off. Instead, he found his fingers curling in the damp material around Hirato’s biceps.
“Stop,” he protested weakly. “I don’t want this.”
Hirato chuckled, the noise rumbling deep in his chest. “I’m not so sure of that.” And his hand curled around Gareki’s arousal.
“Ah!” Gareki yelled.
All of a sudden, he found himself sitting upright in his bunk. What the hell was that dream!? Gareki wiped the sweat of his brow and looked at his morning arousal in disgust. How could his mind even think up those types of things? He needed to shower, but he didn’t want to go in there just yet. Maybe he’d accidentally wake Nai first.
He then looked around the room suspiciously. He really did hope the room wasn’t monitored…
---
Hirato was pleasantly surprised to find Gareki alone in the main common room curled up on a long red couch with a juice box and a book. He had had a long and tedious meeting with higher ups again over Nai’s condition and the issue of the mysterious Karoku and he simply wanted to have a short break. He didn’t want to go into his office just yet because it gave him a headache just looking at the stack of paperwork.
The teen glanced up at him as he entered but drew his focus away back to his reading. He lightly sucked at the straw in his mouth and flipped a page.
Hirato made his way over to the opposing red couch silently, a sheep appearing with two cups of tea and placed them onto the coffee table. Hirato leaned his cane against the arm of the couch and placed his jacket with his hat draped over the back. He sat down onto the plush seat and crossed his legs, picking up his tea gracefully. He quietly watched the teen over the rim, sipping now and then.
Eventually, Gareki became restless as the eyes focused on his figure continued to train onto him.
He looked up and put his empty juice carton on the table. “What are you looking at?” he asked rudely.
Hirato just shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly. “You’re reading about advanced combat battle strategies? I can tell you much more than that book could.”
Gareki seemed to weigh his options, frowning. There was a chance that the annoying man would simply stay there and stare at him some more if he ignored him. Gareki supposed he could see how far the captain’s knowledge really extended…
He picked up his tea and placed the book, still open, facedown onto the table. He drew his knee up to his chest and waited with an expectant look on his face.
Hirato’s expression turned thoughtful. Where to start? Locking eyes with Gareki, he began, “The basis of a battle strategy is to find the most efficient way to achieve victory. Every group or party uses one, whether unconsciously or no. Minimizing loss is Circus’s ideal because sometimes winning the battle is not worth it if the loss will be too high - better to rethink the strategy and attack from a different angle. Kafka does not seem to be concerned with this though. Their losses are so large in number…”
The afternoon sun eventually dipped beneath the horizon and Gareki was actively engaged in the conversation, asking questions and asserting his own opinions as he leaned forward towards Hirato. Hirato, on the other hand, was enjoying the chance to converse with the normally reserved teen and he was surprised with the insight that Gareki showed. Gareki’s street-savvy and highly intellectual mind was a pleasure to view in action and Hirato found himself unexpectedly listening avidly as Gareki presented him with different scenarios and solutions. He never would have thought the younger male would already such an extensive knowledge base.
“… And so it would be redundant to place a battalion in front of the special forces because they would be more effective separately especially if the special forces attacked from all around, using trees as cover. There would be surveillance cameras and sensors but if somehow the attackers could infiltrate airspace and drop 7 to 8 GN-1748 bombs, they would effectively be annihilated since the electrical interference would make all monitoring signals drop. The bombs can release secondary charges on impact which would spread throughout the localised area and cause havoc to the sensors. That’s the moment the special forces come in and dispatch of the outside guards.”
“Ah, but what about the secondary guards patrolling the roof? They would see the special forces coming and alert the main security system. The bombs don’t release smoke, do they?”
“Well that can be modified by inserting a type E transmitter which would attach to - “
Approaching footsteps and voices stopped Gareki in his tracks. His eyes widened as he realised he had been in comfortable and engaging conversation with Hirato for much longer than he’d anticipated. His stomach took the chance to rumble.
Hirato smiled lightly, quietly admiring Gareki’s features as his face scrunched up in discomfort. “Well, I suppose that’s our cue,” he couldn’t help but tease.
“Shut up,” Gareki muttered, uncurling with a stretch. Hirato’s eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the sliver of skin exposed when Gareki’s tee rose up. He fluidly stood up as the teen relaxed again.
“Come, you should go eat now.”
“Hm?” Gareki wondered idly, gathering his book and juice box. A sheep came along to take the tea cups from the table. “You’re not eating?”
Hirato shook his head regrettably. “I have work to attend to. I’ll have the sheep bring something.” He paused. “Are you worrying about me, Gareki-kun?”
Gareki rolled his eyes and huffed. “You wish.”
Hirato just chuckled and he headed to the door, picking up his hat, jacket and cane, Gareki trailing behind him. Before they left the room, Hirato paused, considering something, then turned slowly. He slid his hand up Gareki’s exposed arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps. He pressed a kiss against the teen’s forehead then trailed kisses down the midline of his face as he stepped closer. Soft lips met Gareki’s and to Hirato’s surprise, Gareki didn’t protest and simply pressed back, opening his mouth and tentatively licked him. Hirato plundered Gareki’s mouth with barely restrained desire. Something thumped gently on the floor and Hirato vaguely noted it was Gareki’s empty juice carton - Gareki’s free hand came up to clutch at the front of his white shirt, crinkling it irreversibly. His other hand still held tightly to his book, but it pressed against their stomachs as he was urged close by Hirato’s intoxicating scent and lips. He moaned lightly but didn’t pull away immediately.
They broke apart when Gareki felt like he was about to go dizzy from lack of air.
“Uh…” he muttered awkwardly, cheeks alight with embarrassment. He averted his eyes, noting he’d dropped his juice box at some point.
Hirato just slid his hand to cup Gareki’s jaw and ran a thumb along the deliciously swollen bottom lip. “You shouldn’t be ashamed, Gareki.”
“Huh?”
“This,” he traced Gareki’s jaw line and spoke softly. “You shouldn’t run from me.”
Gareki shoved him. “Who says I’m running!”
“Six minutes.”
“… What’s with that, anyway!?”
“Have a good dinner.” And then Hirato was gone.
Gareki was left with an annoyed expression, his flush dissipating. He bent to pick up the juice carton but jerked violently when he was inches from bashing his forehead against a sheep that was looking up at him, his rubbish in its… hand?
He didn’t know what it was, but it looked like that sheep that he’d completely forgotten was in the room was judging him.
“Hirato-san is usually correct, baa.” It said helpfully.
“TCH.”
---
From then on, it wasn’t unusual to find Gareki curled up with a book on some room or another in the afternoon. Hirato always seemed to have the time to join him with a cup of tea whenever he wasn’t out, and they would converse for half an hour to hours on end until something interrupted them one way or the other. For Gareki, it was strange that Hirato didn’t manage to get under his nerves. And while it was strange, Hirato always kissed him thoroughly before they left the room, like it was some sort of tradition now.
Gareki groaned in his head. How did he end up like this? In this strange… relationship thing with a captain of a Circus Ship!?
It was already drawing close to dinner time now, and Gareki had a feeling that Hirato had been called away on an emergency. He honestly didn’t mind - he needed time to think and reassess what was happening.
If he told anyone, they’d probably laugh at him. Nobody would possibly believe his situation - save those on the Second Ship, most likely. He could just imagine Yogi’s horrified expression, Nai’s confused but excited expression and Tsukumo’s… Tsukumo’s what? He couldn’t envisage her expression, to be honest. He had the feeling she had a crush on the perverted bastard, so would she cry? Hit him? No, Tsukumo wasn’t like that. She was put on a brave face and try to act normal, but she might be awkward around him for a while… oh no.
HELL NO.
Gareki blanched visibly. His mind turned at light speed - Tsukumo had been a little off recently. But he wasn’t sure if something was on her mind. But now he really considered it, she had seemed fine with the Yogi and Nai. Did Hirato know that she probably knew about them!? Of course he did! He was Hirato! Gareki was going to castrate him. Then make him eat it. This was completely humiliating.
The door clicked open, and he turned in blind rage.
“HIRATO! YOU ASSHOL - ”
Tsukitachi froze as Gareki shouted at him before seeming to realise he wasn’t the other captain. “Eh? Gareki-kun are you alright? What did Hirato do?” he asked curiously.
Gareki seemed to tone his expression back to one mostly neutral, but Tsukitachi could see the teen’s teeth grinding together. “It’s nothing, don’t worry.”
“Ah…” The older man hummed in contemplation. He cocked his head. “Did he keep you waiting?”
“… hah?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just that he told me to pass on a message when I was coming here to pick something up.” Tsukitachi coughed in preparation. His voice smoothed disturbingly into one with the lilt that Hirato had. However, the pitch and deep undertone was all wrong - Gareki winced inwardly at that thought; he really shouldn’t know that in the first place. “Please tell Gareki-kun that I won’t be available for our discussions tomorrow because I have some business to conduct. I will be back the day after at approximately nine in the evening.”
Gareki couldn’t stop an amused smirk from gracing his face nonetheless. “Does he know that you can do that voice?”
Tsukitachi chuckled. “Yes, it annoys him so much which is why I use it.”
Gareki huffed once in laughter. “Ok, I got the message, Tsukitachi.”
He took it as a thanks. “No problem, kid. See you~!” With that, Tsukitachi strolled out. Hmm, the captain thought to himself. That was interesting. As he headed leisurely towards Hirato’s office, he wondered why Hirato had chosen to inform the belligerent teen that he would be away for work. It was also interesting to note that the two seemed to have some type of regular meeting which was surprising since he knew they didn’t exactly see eye to eye. Hirato also had a lot of things to do as well, since they were closing on a large Kafka-related group. Hmm…
Gareki was somewhat annoyed that he wouldn’t be able to plant his fist in Hirato’s face until the day after. Trust the sly man to be away when Gareki actually wanted to see him. He grumbled in irritation and continued his book.
---
Hirato had dust in his hair when he arrived at back at the ship. It was always annoying when varuga thought that dark basements and underground places would somehow throw him off his game. What simple thoughts.
He made his way to one of the large luxurious bathrooms open for common use. Everybody kept changes of clothes in each bathroom, simply for convenience’s sake - it was often a touch and go for them, especially if they were to immediately set out on a different mission after a quick freshening up. Hirato took an efficient but thorough shower before redressing in a soft black button up shirt and a pair of fresh slacks. He wasn’t quite ready for bed yet - it was still early in the night and he hoped he would be able to speak with Gareki before the teen retired.
It was a shock when, on asking the sheep about his whereabouts, they replied with “In your office, baa”. He made his way to his quarters and found Gareki curled up in a double sofa, asleep.
A small smile made its way onto Hirato’s face. The teen must have been waiting for him and tiredness had slowly seeped over him. He decided to indulge himself and quietly swooped in for a quick kiss.
Gareki merely mumbled in his rest and twisted in the seat, his book slipping into the gap between his arm and side. Hirato carefully extracted it and turned to sit at his desk, aiming to finish some research.
A hand curled around the back of his untucked shirt. He swivelled back partially, expecting to see Gareki’s bleary eyes blinking up at him, but he didn’t. Instead, it appeared Gareki was still very much asleep but had grabbed onto him, perhaps subconsciously recognizing his scent or touch or presence. Hirato’s expression softened and he tried to gently pry the fingers from his clothing. Unfortunately, Gareki seemed to have such a strong grip that he wouldn’t be able to dislodge him without waking him. Hirato sighed. He wasn’t getting any work done, he supposed.
He flicked his eyes to the door. It wasn’t locked, meaning anyone could burst in at any moment. He didn’t want to raise his voice to tell the sheep to do it either, because he didn’t want to wake Gareki just yet. So, he made a judgement call and decided that it was probably late enough that nobody would be looking for him without calling ahead.
Hirato gently manoeuvred himself so that Gareki’s arm wound comfortably around his side, hand still fisted in his shirt, and carefully sat onto the couch. He pulled the teen to his chest and supported Gareki’s back as he pulled off his glasses and shut his eyes.
---
Gareki woke to the sound of someone else breathing deeply and evenly against his hair. He blinked in confusion as he tried to recall what he was doing and then remembered waiting in Hirato’s office for him to come back from whatever he was doing. He tilted his head upwards, lifting it off firm muscles and came within inches to Hirato’s face. He was somewhat disturbed that being tucked tight against somebody else was not raising the desire to retaliate. One of his legs was draped over Hirato’s thigh but he didn’t have the strength nor consciousness to move it.
He was still tired and examined Hirato’s face distantly. Loose deep purple hair fell over the man’s forehead and almost completely covered one eye as Hirato tilted towards him. His eyes followed the regal line of the captain’s nose down to soft, defined lips then to trace back up as Gareki admired Hirato’s jawline and sharp cheekbones. This man was definitely handsome, his mind supplied. Gareki groaned inwardly - since when had he admired another man’s looks? He should be into girls and their cute, small bodies and soft skin and tinkling laughter. Instead, here he was pressed intimately against a man who, while definitely the definition of handsome, was neither small nor was all soft flesh nor had tinkling laughter. It was kind of disturbing to even associate Hirato with tinkling laughter.
Gareki shook off that thought and exhaled. His left hand came up to brush through Hirato’s falling fringe and he marvelled at how soft it was. The colour was unbelieveable as well. His fingertips guiltily trailed down a smooth cheek and dropped onto the captain’s chest where his shirt was unbuttoned down to the fourth button. Gareki found himself eyeing sharp collarbones and the hint of firm pectorals and without realising it, his fingers followed. The pads of his fingers dipped into the hollow of Hirato’s collarbone then slid down to his sternum, feeling one, two, three bony protrusions before it smoothed out into soft muscle. Almost in a daze, Gareki’s realised he had reached the V of the open collar and he was playing with the button there.
“Are you teasing me, Gareki?” Hirato’s voice suddenly said from next to his ear, voice low and husky from sleep.
Gareki jerked, startled, hand automatically retracting. He blinked and growled, “How long have you been awake?”
Hirato slid him closer, Gareki’s left leg sweeping further across the captain’s body. “Since you woke up. I wouldn’t be a good Circus member if I couldn’t sense movement in my sleep.”
Gareki stayed silent, now absolutely awake and tense. He tried to worm his way from Hirato’s hold, but he was held fast.
“Where are you going so soon?” Hirato asked. The hand not wrapped tight around Gareki rose to pull the teen closer. “I was liking where you were going.”
He pressed them together in a slow, closed-mouthed kiss. As they separated, Gareki found his hand at that V again, index and middle finger hooked in the apex. He was amazed at his own forwardness.
“Dream on, shitty four-eyes.” He didn’t completely remove his hand though, instead pressing his palm onto exposed skin and sliding up as he flushed lightly and leaned into Hirato’s face, hesitantly initiating contact. Hirato let the younger male take the lead, his skin tingling from where Gareki’s slow, cautious hand was exploring. However, an unmistakable heat was pooling in his groin and he knew it would alarm the teen.
He broke their kiss and grasped Gareki’s hand. “Gareki,” he said seriously, purple eyes calm. “You know where this is going. I want you so much, but I don’t think it would be good for either of us if we rushed into things.”
Gareki froze. Oh god he had been - where things were going - Hirato was right. He was in no way ready for this type of thing. What had he been thinking!?
He scrambled away along the couch, breathing heavily in alarm mixed with a heady arousal he didn’t even notice until then. His eyes cleared as he curled up as far away from Hirato as possible, line of sight inadvertently drawn to the clear evidence of how much the older man wanted him. He knew he was panicking. “THAT is not going anywhere near me!” he said plainly.
Hirato held up his hands in surrender. “It’s not. I apologize; I can’t control my body’s reaction to you.” To his credit, he did look regretful.
Gareki was still in mild shock. He couldn’t believe he himself had - had - touched the captain like that. This was way above his head.
“I’m leaving,” he said, picking up his book and pretty much doing a dash from the door. When he finally made it back to his room, he closed the door behind him, eyes shut and heart racing.
It was moment before he realised Nai wasn’t the only person in the room. Tsukumo and Yogi were seated on the floor near the chest of clothes near the window and had strange expressions.
“Um, Gareki-kun,” Yogi said serious. “I think we all need to talk about something.”
Hell no. By the way he was speaking, the blond probably knew or suspected something. Tsukumo was also eyeballing him. Nai looked a little confused, but sat on his bunk quietly, realising the seriousness of the situation.
Damn it.
---
Hirato couldn’t believe Gareki’s boldness. Granted, there was a slightly sleep-glazed look in his eyes, but he was very satisfied that Gareki found him attractive at some level. To play with his hair and fiddle with his shirt…
Hirato had always been told he was handsome. Nurses and people like Tsukumo appreciated his appearance. Hell, even Tsukitachi told him once. But to get physical affirmation that Gareki of all people was interested in him - Hirato was pleased.
---
Part 3
“More wine, Hirato-san~?” Yogi asked cheerfully.
“Yes, thank you, Yogi.” Hirato’s deep voice replied. The sound of wine hitting the empty glass was muffled by Nai’s excited chattering about his study session with Tsukumo. He constantly watched Gareki’s expression eagerly as he recited the new knowledge he’d gained but unfortunately for the niji, Gareki was focussed on shoving food into his face. Geez he was so hungry all of a sudden!
Someone kicked him from beneath the table.
“Ow!” he exclaimed, dropping his piece of meat and glared across the table at Tsukumo and Yogi suspiciously. Nai was still happily talking to anyone who would listen, so it could not have been him. Gareki’s eyes narrowed as Yogi leaned towards him and whispered not-so-quietly, “Gareki! Nai was talking to you!”
As if Gareki didn’t know that. But he was hungry, dammit!
Shooting Yogi a poisonous look, he jabbed his fork at the blond. “You keep him busy! Can’t you see I’m eating?”
“Uwah, Gareki’s so mean! Tsukumo-chaaan, that’s no way to treat friend, isn’t it?”
Gareki deadpanned, “Who says I’m your friend.”
Yogi’s eyes started to water. This was a routine that happened daily and Gareki just huffed in irritation, reaching forward to stab at a vegetable on the large plate in front of Nai.
Just then, Nai seemed to remember something and jerked. “Ah! Gareki, Yogi, Hirato-san! Tsukumo and I baked for you guys today!”
“Hm?” Hirato questioned. He lightly rolled his wine around his mouth, chopsticks simultaneously gathering a mouthful of rice from his bowl. The sheep had cooked a well-balanced selection of dishes as usual, and while he didn’t usually eat with the other four, seeing Gareki’s annoyed face after their encounter was amusing.
“I’ll ask the sheep to get them!” Nai turned and twittered to the sheep, who let out a Baa and turned towards the table by the door. On it, sat a tray of baked desserts, ranging from eclairs to sponges to danishes, covered with a lace net for protection from the dust and the like.
Gareki eyed the tray apprehensively as it drew closer. He pushed the last of his rice into his mouth and chewed as the desserts were slid onto the end of table beside him. At a distance, they may have looked fine, but on closer inspection they were quite misshapen.
Gareki face must have shown it, because Tsukumo blushed a little. “Ah, gomen, we had some trouble with the dough.” She kept her eyes low and on the baked goods, not wanting see Yogi and Hirato eye her and Nai’s work as Gareki had done.
“Mm, yeah!” Nai interjected. “But they taste yummy!”
Tsukumo couldn’t help but look up then at Nai with a smile. “Yeah…”
“W-w-WOW!” Yogi exclaimed. “You made these for us?? Wahh! Thanks Tsukumo-chan, Nai-chan! Can we really eat them?” He leaned across the table to look at them.
“Of course,” Tsukumo said. “We specially made them for you!” Nai chimed.
“Hmm… which one should I have…” Yogi pondered.
While the blond was still thinking, Gareki carefully examined each individual dessert. While they were kind of oddly shaped, the fragrant scent they gave off and the decent-looking quality of the treats (disregarding the occasional burnt areas) had him deciding to consume one. Tsukumo’s let-down expression from before also didn’t sit perfectly fine and he somewhat regretted judging so quickly. So, without hesitation, he reached for an éclair.
“Eh? You’re having one, Gareki-kun?” Tsukumo said in surprise.
“Mm.” Gareki said in reply, looking at his pick from the top and sides. “What’s in it?”
“Um… Vanilla custard or chocolate! It’s a surprise,” Nai said, excited that he had gotten Gareki to try one of them. Gareki had been so silent during the meal today that he thought Gareki might be angry about something.
“Ooh, I want one too!” Yogi said and reached for another éclair. “Which one would you like, Hirato?”
“A sponge, please.”
“Here you go~”
“Nai? Do you want another one?” Tsukumo asked kindly.
“Ummmm… I want that one there,” he replied, pointing at the apricot Danish that sat at the far end of the tray. Tsukumo lifted it up with its paper wrapper underneath and handed it to Nai. She took the last remaining dessert - another sponge.
“Itadakimasu!” Yogi declared, and chomped into his éclair.
At the same time, Gareki bit into his, mildly hoping it was the vanilla custard because his meal had been quite heavy and the richness of chocolate would simply upset his stomach.
“Oooh,” Yogi mumbled through a mouthful. “This is so good…”
“Hmm, I agree. You two did a good job,” Hirato said.
Tsukumo blushed very slightly and Nai seemed to perk up at the praise.
“Argh!”
All heads whipped towards the source of the noise and Tsukumo held back a surprised chuff of amusement behind her hand delicately. Yogi had his mouth open and Nai looked like he was unsure of what to do.
“Gareki! Are you alright?” he fretted, trying to put down his Danish and move to help his friend at the same time.
“Ugh…” Gareki grumbled in disgust. He stared at the dripping dessert with hate. As soon as he had bitten into it, it had effectively opened up an exit point for the too-runny custard to burst through - he hadn’t been able to turn the dessert upright before a copious amount of the sticky filling had drip onto his hands through his fingers, slowly running down his forearm to his elbow. He should have picked something else. Gareki could feel custard on his bottom lip too, dripping down the corner of his mouth and chin. He quickly swallowed his mouthful and licked whatever he could from his lower lip.
He leaned the dreadful bomb-like éclair against his plate carefully, mindful to keep it mostly upright in order to not upset the runny custard again. That wasn’t an éclair at all - it was a bread sack of sugar, Gareki thought darkly.
“Here, Gareki-kun,” Yogi said, helpfully handing him a mass of tissues. He had recovered in seconds, letting the very strange thoughts that suddenly popped into his head dissipate. He smiled widely at the irritated teen, lips smeared with chocolate.
Gareki huffed and grabbed them with his left hand, unconsciously having lifted his right to his lips. He swept his tongue along the back of his hand, taking in the sweet flavour of the custard, before wiping himself clean.
“… It doesn’t taste too bad. Just don’t make it so runny next time, alright?” he grumbled.
Nai and Tsukumo let out tiny sighs of relief at Gareki’s non-explosive reaction. They had thought for sure that there would be yelling - Tsukumo was grateful to the teen for keeping Nai’s confidence intact. She smiled lightly at him, meeting his eyes. Gareki saw the message and blinked, looking away as he wiped his elbow.
The room was filled with noise and laughter again as Yogi and Nai (and occasionally Tsukumo) resumed chatting happily once the disaster was averted.
Hirato’s eyes bored into Gareki across the length of the table as he consumed his sponge gradually. The teen was clearly thinking about how and whether he was going to attempt to finish off the damned eclair and it made Hirato smirk. Eventually, Gareki gathered more tissues and lodged them beneath his plate on standby and carefully picked up the sticky confection with his right hand. Since half the custard was effectively missing, he nibbled at the edges of the éclair until it was approximately a finger’s width away from where the top of the filling pooled within the well of bread. Hirato’s smirk dropped a little. Gareki’s pink tongue came out to lap at the custard, much like a kitten would do to a saucer of milk, and he alternated between that and nibbling at the bread. The pastry gradually got smaller.
The last few bites had Gareki getting his fingers sticky and coated in the filling. While he tugged the wad of tissues from beneath his plate with one hand, he sucked on the backs of his other digits to remove a portion of the mess. Hirato’s smirk darkened and his eyes watched Gareki with intent.
“My, my, you’ve made such a mess of yourself today, Gareki,” Hirato said suddenly, amusement shading his voice.
Yogi shot him a questioning look then glanced at Gareki, who looked perfectly fine to him. He shrugged it off as a weird Hirato thing and continued talking to Nai and Tsukumo.
Gareki definitely caught Hirato’s words though, and he shot the captain a prickly look. He stiffened at the look in Hirato’s eyes though. It was uncomfortably similar to the one he’d received when they… something happened in his room. Probably thinking perverted things, that shitty bastard, he thought to himself. He looked away pointedly and became gradually absorbed into the other conversation.
Hirato laughed quietly to himself as he polished off the rest of his cake and poured himself some more wine. He was definitely thinking perverted things.
---
“Hey, what’s up with you?” Tsukitachi asked, scrutinizing the other man over the rim of his glass. He didn’t have anything planned after his meeting with the Second Ship’s captain so he decided to hang around for a little while.
“Hm?” Hirato replied. He continued to type on the holographic keyboard, data streaming across the screen in front of him as he worked.
“I said, something’s on your mind. Are you plotting again, Hirato?” Tsukitachi chugged back the shot.
Hirato raised his eyebrow, looking over at the other captain. “Whatever makes you think I’m plotting something?”
Tsukitachi laughed. “Honestly, when are you not?”
Hirato’s gaze returned to the blue screen. “Speak for yourself, Tsukitachi. For your information, it’s merely an experiment that I’m trialling. I don’t think you need to know any more than that - it does not involve you.”
“Wow, thank you for telling me. Guess I don’t have to worry for my safety, then.”
“I didn’t say there weren’t other things on my mind.”
Tsukitachi laughed again. “That’s very like you, Hirato.”
He poured another glass and downed it, leaning back heavily in the chair. “Ah…… guess I’ll keep an eye out for the results of your experiment. It should be interesting.”
Hirato chuckled privately. He had no idea.
---
Gareki was frustrated. There were four volumes to the series on the specifics of transmitter mecha that he was making his way through, but the fourth volume was nowhere to be found in the on-board library. He sighed in irritation, slumping back into a soft sofa seat in the well-lit room. Perhaps it was available on the First Ship? But they were not due to meet the other ship until next week. Gareki’s curiosity could not last that long! He thirsted for that knowledge just out of his grasp. Wait. That four-eyes had a pretty big collection of books in his office. Perhaps it had been put there by mistake.
But then Gareki groaned. He didn’t want to go anywhere near that place. For the past few days ever since that… kiss… in his room, he had been purposely avoiding the captain. Surprisingly, he’d been able to pull it off, which made Gareki think that the bastard was really staying out of sight on purpose. Damn that irritated him. But if it mean Gareki didn’t have to look at his face, it was fine.
He looked at the clock ticking innocently on the wall. 4:09PM; the asshole should still out at the Research Tower. Gareki wracked his brains to remember what Yogi had said that morning.
“I - I have to go to the Research Tower today, Gareki-kuuuun! Wahhhh!”
No, not that.
“Hirato-san is coming with me later. He said he had a meeting with Akari-sensei until 5! Ugh, so much time spent with A-akari-sensei…”
That was what he was looking for. 4:11PM, the clock said now. Gareki stood up - if he was going to look for that book, he should move now just in case the captain came back early!
---
As Gareki swept his eyes along the shelves, he groaned. He didn’t think the categorization would make next to no sense! The mecha books were beside the life medicine ones and everything was simply in no discernible pattern.
His eyes flicked to the clock - 4:20PM. He had already spent too long. He had to hurry if he didn’t want to run into the older man.
Time seemed to tick away too quickly as Gareki made his way systematically from the first bookshelf to the next to the third. There were a total of eight and glancing at the clock, Gareki cursed. 4:40PM.
To his surprise, he found what he was looking for at the top of the fourth shelf. Reaching up, he cursed as his fingers couldn’t reach the top of the spine. The books were packed so firmly there was no way he’d be able to pull it out any other way. Goddamn it! Who put their books like this!?
Suddenly, a gloved hand reached above his hand and easily slid the book from the shelf. Gareki froze.
“Gareki,” Hirato greeted. Gareki turned around with a scowl. “Is this what you were after?”
Gareki snatched the offending book from Hirato’s grasp. “Yeah. …I didn’t need your help.”
Hirato smiled. Gareki thought it was creepy. “Of course you didn’t. I could see you were reaching it just fine.” He took in Gareki’s offended glare and changed the subject. “I don’t appreciate you entering my office without my permission.”
Gareki’s eyes darted to the side as Hirato’s tone of voice became more serious.
Hirato continued. “Unless of course, you were waiting for me…” His voice had dropped to a purr.
“Ugh, no way.” Gareki slipped out from between Hirato and the bookshelf.
To his surprise, Hirato didn’t stop him. When he curled back in his bed, he found himself unable to focus as something tugged at the pit of his stomach uncomfortably.
---
Hirato watched with veiled pleasure as Gareki seemed to be thinking very deeply about something at the dinner table. His decision to leave the teen to his thoughts was working the way he wanted to - Hirato wanted him to realise that he was missing something, and that would make the chase all that much better.
Gareki forked food into his mouth mechanically, mind still wandering and trying to work out why he was feeling so off-balanced. He shot a glance up at the four-eyed bastard. He had something to do with this, Gareki just knew it.
Could it be… that he was expecting the captain to harass him? Had it become a part of his regular routine already that when it didn’t happen… No.
There was no way that was the cause.
But…
---
Hirato cornered Gareki that evening as the teen strolled from the common room back to his bedroom with Nai.
“Nai,” Hirato said with a smile. “I need to speak to Gareki-kun for a moment. Could you please go back to your room first?”
“Uh, okay!” Nai replied brightly. “Come on, hitsugi! You’ll come with me right?”
“Baa!”
When they turned the corner, Hirato turned to Gareki’s flat stare. “What is it now?”
His smile turned into a smirk. “Have you thought about it?” he said.
“What?”
Hirato backed Gareki into the wall, the teen looking around in alarm for sheep or other crew members that could potentially walk past and see them - !
Wait. See what.
“I see that you understand now, Gareki.” Hirato said, pleased. His eyes darkened and he curled his hands around Gareki’s wrists to hold him steady.
Gareki was still reeling from the unexpected thought his mind decided to spit out at him and he didn’t see the lips descend onto his own. He gasped involuntarily and a tongue slithered into his mouth.
“Mmn!” he mumbled around the invading muscle. “Hmmmn! Mmm! Mm…”
Slowly, he relaxed as the foreign sensation began to make his head heady with fog. He could feel himself losing himself. Tentatively, his own tongue reached forward to tangle with the captain’s. The effect was instantaneous - sparks flew behind his eyes (when had he closed them?) and the other man drew him closer, pressing him close until all his senses were filled with Hirato. Gareki inhaled the man’s natural, musky scent blended with the clean sharp smell of soap and moaned lightly against Hirato’s mouth.
Shocking himself with the noise, he pulled back, flushed face staring up at the captain. Reddened lips curled into a smirk in front of his eyes and he couldn’t help but be drawn to them. Unknowingly, he licked his lips.
Hirato watched the motion, heat starting to pool in his stomach. The teen really didn’t know how delectable he looked with his lips pouty and red, cheeks lightly blushed and eyes reflecting his desire. Hirato opened his mouth, somewhat surprised at how low and husky his voice had gotten, “Gareki, do you fully understand?”
Gareki seemed to gather himself and while he was in shock, he couldn’t deny the pounding of his heart and the way he just wanted to lean back in and continue what they were doing. “… Yeah,” he muttered.
“What was that?” Hirato asked, wanting to hear Gareki say it with more conviction.
“I said,” Gareki bit out. “Yeah, I get it.”
He averted his eyes from the captain’s pleased, piercing gaze. “Now, get off. I’m going to bed.”
Hirato just chuckled in mirth. “Ten minutes.” He released the teen.
Gareki sent him a confused, troubled look before spinning on his heel and headed quickly towards his room. Ten minutes…? What was he going on about?
Hirato watched him leave, expression hardened suddenly. “Tsukumo,” he said.
A sharp intake of breath was heard above him. He looked up, face carefully blank. “Come here.”
Tsukumo dropped onto the corridor floor with a flurry of motion, quickly standing. She had a look of shock and sadness displayed clearly on her face.
“You should know better than to eavesdrop, Tsukumo.” Hirato admonished dangerously. “I trust you to keep what you’ve seen today to yourself.” It wasn’t a request.
Tsukumo swallowed her tears. “H-hai.”
Hirato sighed. “I apologize for upsetting you,” he said. “I ask you to please not change your behaviour to Gareki-kun.”
Tsukumo nodded, not trusting her voice. But she had to know… “Why him, Hirato-san?” Her voice broke in the middle and tears shone unshed in her large expressive eyes.
Hirato just watched her hold herself together with some regret. “I’m truly sorry for letting you see that, Tsukumo. Gareki…” he trailed off, a contemplative tone in his voice. “Gareki interests me.”
“Why can’t I interest you, Hirato-san!” Tsukumo cried out. “You don’t know how long I’ve - I’ve - ” she broke off, unable to continue without completely embarrassing herself in front of this man she admired so much.
“I’m sorry,” Hirato said simply.
Tsukumo bowed her head in defeat. “… I understand.” She whispered, disappearing in a blur as she dashed away.
Hirato sighed, running a hand through his hair. What a mess. He’d always known about how Tsukumo had felt about him, and on rare occasions, even encouraged a little for interest’s sake. But now, something about Gareki held him fast.
As he walked past the teen and the niji’s shared room, he heard, “Ne, Gareki-kun? What do you understand? Did Hirato-san teach you something good?” “SHUT UP, YOU ANIMAL.” He continued to his quarters with an amused smirk.
---
Gareki bit back a groan, knowing how sensitive the sleeping niji’s hearing was.
It was just past dawn, hours before he would normally be awake, but a practically X-rated dream had him starting awake. He flipped back the blanket and looked down at his lap in trepidation - as he expected, his couldn’t count on his body to maintain some mode of control and a bulge clearly showed through his thin cotton sleep pants.
Dammit! He flopped back onto the bed with a hand over his face. That shitty four-eyes!
After that detour in the hallway a few days prior, he had been having those dreams that involved things he never thought he’d be interested in. So far, he had found that lying quietly in bed trying to come to terms with it helped to manage his morning problem and it usually disappeared by the time they were supposed to wake up. Unfortunately, days of forcibly retaining his seed in this fashion had Gareki extremely sensitive today.
He shuddered as he recalled vividly real phantom hands raking down his thighs. This was not good.
Making a decision, he quietly climbed down the ladder to plant his feet on the floor and made his way to the bathroom. Closing the door behind him, he didn’t notice a shadow detach itself from the corner of his room and follow him.
Gareki turned on shower taps to a pleasant warmth before shedding his clothes. The shivered as cool morning bathroom air made contact with his skin. Goosebumps rose on his arm and he quickly stepped into the shower stall. His clothes lay in a heap on the countertop. He had never found it necessary to lock the door because the niji’s hearing could always pick up if the bathroom was in use (well, he had needed to beat the fact that two males didn’t use the bathroom together into Nai the first time round). So, as steam slowly filled the room, Gareki didn’t see the door click open and closed again.
However, a shadow flicked on the other side of the transparent glass wall. Gareki’s head whipped up and his heart beat started to pick up. What the… His hands slowly pat down the contents lining the small inbuilt shelf on the wall of the cubicle, hoping that he could find something to defend himself with if whatever in the bathroom with him was more than just his imagination.
The door opened slowly, and of all things, Hirato appeared. Gareki yelled and projected a shampoo bottle at his face.
“WHAT THE HELL!?!!!!” he screamed, not caring if Nai woke up anymore. What the HELL was this guy doing in the bathroom while he was in the shower?!
“Keep your voice down,” Hirato said smoothly.
“WHAT?! GET OUT! THIS IS A BATHROOM!”
Gareki realised with horror that he was standing stark naked and aroused before the bastard. “GET OUT, GET OUT!” he yelled, shoving his wet hands against broad shoulders. Gareki vaguely noted that the normally impeccably dressed captain was down to an untucked dress shirt, unbelted trousers and his usual boots. But Gareki didn’t care to think about that at the moment. He was being traumatised.
Effectively shoving himself out of the shower stall and past Hirato, he grabbed the bath towel sitting beside his sleeping outfit and wrapped it around his waist, hiding his private area. He turned to give the older man a piece of his mind!
“You - you - just - ” he spluttered. “I was in the shower!”
Hirato put up his hands in surrender. “Don’t get upset, I - ”
“DON’T GET UPSET!?” Gareki repeated incredulously. “What kind of person walks in on somebody in the shower?!!”
Hirato sighed. “Let me explain.” He appeared to back away a little bit, but then he was suddenly in front of the teen, hand tangled painfully in Gareki’s hair as Hirato gripped it.
“You… You can’t tempt me like this, Gareki, and expect me to walk away.” He said lowly. “I need…”
He dropped his head into the crook of Gareki’s neck and inhaled. Gareki was shocked at the older man’s actions - what was wrong with him?
“You probably suspected, but every single room aside from bathrooms are monitored.” Hirato continued. “You don’t know how much I wanted to come to you these past nights, when you’re gasping my name in your sleep.”
Gareki reddened. WHAT? He’d done those things?! Oh god. But that doesn’t give the shitty bastard the right to -
“Let me touch you, Gareki.”
“HAH?”
Hirato’s dilated eyes turned to stare into Gareki’s. He leaned in a whispered into Gareki’s ear, “I can give you the release you want.”
Gareki slugged him, panting.
Hirato reeled back more in shock than pain. His jaw throbbed lightly as he stared at Gareki’s bowed head.
Gareki looked up with angry eyes. “Don’t say that. I don’t want this from you. Get out.” His voice shook, and he hoped it came off as rage instead of the biting arousal that he felt uncoil inside of him at Hirato’s aggressiveness.
Hirato was not fooled. His expression darkened. With a flash, he had grabbed the teen, whipping off the towel and pressed them both back under the shower spray. Hirato’s white shirt became instantly transparent and Gareki gasped as rough cotton brushed against his still-engorged erection.
“You’re still hard, Gareki.” Hirato said into his ear, nipping lightly. Gareki shivered and raised his hands to push the older man off. Instead, he found his fingers curling in the damp material around Hirato’s biceps.
“Stop,” he protested weakly. “I don’t want this.”
Hirato chuckled, the noise rumbling deep in his chest. “I’m not so sure of that.” And his hand curled around Gareki’s arousal.
“Ah!” Gareki yelled.
All of a sudden, he found himself sitting upright in his bunk. What the hell was that dream!? Gareki wiped the sweat of his brow and looked at his morning arousal in disgust. How could his mind even think up those types of things? He needed to shower, but he didn’t want to go in there just yet. Maybe he’d accidentally wake Nai first.
He then looked around the room suspiciously. He really did hope the room wasn’t monitored…
---
Hirato was pleasantly surprised to find Gareki alone in the main common room curled up on a long red couch with a juice box and a book. He had had a long and tedious meeting with higher ups again over Nai’s condition and the issue of the mysterious Karoku and he simply wanted to have a short break. He didn’t want to go into his office just yet because it gave him a headache just looking at the stack of paperwork.
The teen glanced up at him as he entered but drew his focus away back to his reading. He lightly sucked at the straw in his mouth and flipped a page.
Hirato made his way over to the opposing red couch silently, a sheep appearing with two cups of tea and placed them onto the coffee table. Hirato leaned his cane against the arm of the couch and placed his jacket with his hat draped over the back. He sat down onto the plush seat and crossed his legs, picking up his tea gracefully. He quietly watched the teen over the rim, sipping now and then.
Eventually, Gareki became restless as the eyes focused on his figure continued to train onto him.
He looked up and put his empty juice carton on the table. “What are you looking at?” he asked rudely.
Hirato just shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly. “You’re reading about advanced combat battle strategies? I can tell you much more than that book could.”
Gareki seemed to weigh his options, frowning. There was a chance that the annoying man would simply stay there and stare at him some more if he ignored him. Gareki supposed he could see how far the captain’s knowledge really extended…
He picked up his tea and placed the book, still open, facedown onto the table. He drew his knee up to his chest and waited with an expectant look on his face.
Hirato’s expression turned thoughtful. Where to start? Locking eyes with Gareki, he began, “The basis of a battle strategy is to find the most efficient way to achieve victory. Every group or party uses one, whether unconsciously or no. Minimizing loss is Circus’s ideal because sometimes winning the battle is not worth it if the loss will be too high - better to rethink the strategy and attack from a different angle. Kafka does not seem to be concerned with this though. Their losses are so large in number…”
The afternoon sun eventually dipped beneath the horizon and Gareki was actively engaged in the conversation, asking questions and asserting his own opinions as he leaned forward towards Hirato. Hirato, on the other hand, was enjoying the chance to converse with the normally reserved teen and he was surprised with the insight that Gareki showed. Gareki’s street-savvy and highly intellectual mind was a pleasure to view in action and Hirato found himself unexpectedly listening avidly as Gareki presented him with different scenarios and solutions. He never would have thought the younger male would already such an extensive knowledge base.
“… And so it would be redundant to place a battalion in front of the special forces because they would be more effective separately especially if the special forces attacked from all around, using trees as cover. There would be surveillance cameras and sensors but if somehow the attackers could infiltrate airspace and drop 7 to 8 GN-1748 bombs, they would effectively be annihilated since the electrical interference would make all monitoring signals drop. The bombs can release secondary charges on impact which would spread throughout the localised area and cause havoc to the sensors. That’s the moment the special forces come in and dispatch of the outside guards.”
“Ah, but what about the secondary guards patrolling the roof? They would see the special forces coming and alert the main security system. The bombs don’t release smoke, do they?”
“Well that can be modified by inserting a type E transmitter which would attach to - “
Approaching footsteps and voices stopped Gareki in his tracks. His eyes widened as he realised he had been in comfortable and engaging conversation with Hirato for much longer than he’d anticipated. His stomach took the chance to rumble.
Hirato smiled lightly, quietly admiring Gareki’s features as his face scrunched up in discomfort. “Well, I suppose that’s our cue,” he couldn’t help but tease.
“Shut up,” Gareki muttered, uncurling with a stretch. Hirato’s eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the sliver of skin exposed when Gareki’s tee rose up. He fluidly stood up as the teen relaxed again.
“Come, you should go eat now.”
“Hm?” Gareki wondered idly, gathering his book and juice box. A sheep came along to take the tea cups from the table. “You’re not eating?”
Hirato shook his head regrettably. “I have work to attend to. I’ll have the sheep bring something.” He paused. “Are you worrying about me, Gareki-kun?”
Gareki rolled his eyes and huffed. “You wish.”
Hirato just chuckled and he headed to the door, picking up his hat, jacket and cane, Gareki trailing behind him. Before they left the room, Hirato paused, considering something, then turned slowly. He slid his hand up Gareki’s exposed arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps. He pressed a kiss against the teen’s forehead then trailed kisses down the midline of his face as he stepped closer. Soft lips met Gareki’s and to Hirato’s surprise, Gareki didn’t protest and simply pressed back, opening his mouth and tentatively licked him. Hirato plundered Gareki’s mouth with barely restrained desire. Something thumped gently on the floor and Hirato vaguely noted it was Gareki’s empty juice carton - Gareki’s free hand came up to clutch at the front of his white shirt, crinkling it irreversibly. His other hand still held tightly to his book, but it pressed against their stomachs as he was urged close by Hirato’s intoxicating scent and lips. He moaned lightly but didn’t pull away immediately.
They broke apart when Gareki felt like he was about to go dizzy from lack of air.
“Uh…” he muttered awkwardly, cheeks alight with embarrassment. He averted his eyes, noting he’d dropped his juice box at some point.
Hirato just slid his hand to cup Gareki’s jaw and ran a thumb along the deliciously swollen bottom lip. “You shouldn’t be ashamed, Gareki.”
“Huh?”
“This,” he traced Gareki’s jaw line and spoke softly. “You shouldn’t run from me.”
Gareki shoved him. “Who says I’m running!”
“Six minutes.”
“… What’s with that, anyway!?”
“Have a good dinner.” And then Hirato was gone.
Gareki was left with an annoyed expression, his flush dissipating. He bent to pick up the juice carton but jerked violently when he was inches from bashing his forehead against a sheep that was looking up at him, his rubbish in its… hand?
He didn’t know what it was, but it looked like that sheep that he’d completely forgotten was in the room was judging him.
“Hirato-san is usually correct, baa.” It said helpfully.
“TCH.”
---
From then on, it wasn’t unusual to find Gareki curled up with a book on some room or another in the afternoon. Hirato always seemed to have the time to join him with a cup of tea whenever he wasn’t out, and they would converse for half an hour to hours on end until something interrupted them one way or the other. For Gareki, it was strange that Hirato didn’t manage to get under his nerves. And while it was strange, Hirato always kissed him thoroughly before they left the room, like it was some sort of tradition now.
Gareki groaned in his head. How did he end up like this? In this strange… relationship thing with a captain of a Circus Ship!?
It was already drawing close to dinner time now, and Gareki had a feeling that Hirato had been called away on an emergency. He honestly didn’t mind - he needed time to think and reassess what was happening.
If he told anyone, they’d probably laugh at him. Nobody would possibly believe his situation - save those on the Second Ship, most likely. He could just imagine Yogi’s horrified expression, Nai’s confused but excited expression and Tsukumo’s… Tsukumo’s what? He couldn’t envisage her expression, to be honest. He had the feeling she had a crush on the perverted bastard, so would she cry? Hit him? No, Tsukumo wasn’t like that. She was put on a brave face and try to act normal, but she might be awkward around him for a while… oh no.
HELL NO.
Gareki blanched visibly. His mind turned at light speed - Tsukumo had been a little off recently. But he wasn’t sure if something was on her mind. But now he really considered it, she had seemed fine with the Yogi and Nai. Did Hirato know that she probably knew about them!? Of course he did! He was Hirato! Gareki was going to castrate him. Then make him eat it. This was completely humiliating.
The door clicked open, and he turned in blind rage.
“HIRATO! YOU ASSHOL - ”
Tsukitachi froze as Gareki shouted at him before seeming to realise he wasn’t the other captain. “Eh? Gareki-kun are you alright? What did Hirato do?” he asked curiously.
Gareki seemed to tone his expression back to one mostly neutral, but Tsukitachi could see the teen’s teeth grinding together. “It’s nothing, don’t worry.”
“Ah…” The older man hummed in contemplation. He cocked his head. “Did he keep you waiting?”
“… hah?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just that he told me to pass on a message when I was coming here to pick something up.” Tsukitachi coughed in preparation. His voice smoothed disturbingly into one with the lilt that Hirato had. However, the pitch and deep undertone was all wrong - Gareki winced inwardly at that thought; he really shouldn’t know that in the first place. “Please tell Gareki-kun that I won’t be available for our discussions tomorrow because I have some business to conduct. I will be back the day after at approximately nine in the evening.”
Gareki couldn’t stop an amused smirk from gracing his face nonetheless. “Does he know that you can do that voice?”
Tsukitachi chuckled. “Yes, it annoys him so much which is why I use it.”
Gareki huffed once in laughter. “Ok, I got the message, Tsukitachi.”
He took it as a thanks. “No problem, kid. See you~!” With that, Tsukitachi strolled out. Hmm, the captain thought to himself. That was interesting. As he headed leisurely towards Hirato’s office, he wondered why Hirato had chosen to inform the belligerent teen that he would be away for work. It was also interesting to note that the two seemed to have some type of regular meeting which was surprising since he knew they didn’t exactly see eye to eye. Hirato also had a lot of things to do as well, since they were closing on a large Kafka-related group. Hmm…
Gareki was somewhat annoyed that he wouldn’t be able to plant his fist in Hirato’s face until the day after. Trust the sly man to be away when Gareki actually wanted to see him. He grumbled in irritation and continued his book.
---
Hirato had dust in his hair when he arrived at back at the ship. It was always annoying when varuga thought that dark basements and underground places would somehow throw him off his game. What simple thoughts.
He made his way to one of the large luxurious bathrooms open for common use. Everybody kept changes of clothes in each bathroom, simply for convenience’s sake - it was often a touch and go for them, especially if they were to immediately set out on a different mission after a quick freshening up. Hirato took an efficient but thorough shower before redressing in a soft black button up shirt and a pair of fresh slacks. He wasn’t quite ready for bed yet - it was still early in the night and he hoped he would be able to speak with Gareki before the teen retired.
It was a shock when, on asking the sheep about his whereabouts, they replied with “In your office, baa”. He made his way to his quarters and found Gareki curled up in a double sofa, asleep.
A small smile made its way onto Hirato’s face. The teen must have been waiting for him and tiredness had slowly seeped over him. He decided to indulge himself and quietly swooped in for a quick kiss.
Gareki merely mumbled in his rest and twisted in the seat, his book slipping into the gap between his arm and side. Hirato carefully extracted it and turned to sit at his desk, aiming to finish some research.
A hand curled around the back of his untucked shirt. He swivelled back partially, expecting to see Gareki’s bleary eyes blinking up at him, but he didn’t. Instead, it appeared Gareki was still very much asleep but had grabbed onto him, perhaps subconsciously recognizing his scent or touch or presence. Hirato’s expression softened and he tried to gently pry the fingers from his clothing. Unfortunately, Gareki seemed to have such a strong grip that he wouldn’t be able to dislodge him without waking him. Hirato sighed. He wasn’t getting any work done, he supposed.
He flicked his eyes to the door. It wasn’t locked, meaning anyone could burst in at any moment. He didn’t want to raise his voice to tell the sheep to do it either, because he didn’t want to wake Gareki just yet. So, he made a judgement call and decided that it was probably late enough that nobody would be looking for him without calling ahead.
Hirato gently manoeuvred himself so that Gareki’s arm wound comfortably around his side, hand still fisted in his shirt, and carefully sat onto the couch. He pulled the teen to his chest and supported Gareki’s back as he pulled off his glasses and shut his eyes.
---
Gareki woke to the sound of someone else breathing deeply and evenly against his hair. He blinked in confusion as he tried to recall what he was doing and then remembered waiting in Hirato’s office for him to come back from whatever he was doing. He tilted his head upwards, lifting it off firm muscles and came within inches to Hirato’s face. He was somewhat disturbed that being tucked tight against somebody else was not raising the desire to retaliate. One of his legs was draped over Hirato’s thigh but he didn’t have the strength nor consciousness to move it.
He was still tired and examined Hirato’s face distantly. Loose deep purple hair fell over the man’s forehead and almost completely covered one eye as Hirato tilted towards him. His eyes followed the regal line of the captain’s nose down to soft, defined lips then to trace back up as Gareki admired Hirato’s jawline and sharp cheekbones. This man was definitely handsome, his mind supplied. Gareki groaned inwardly - since when had he admired another man’s looks? He should be into girls and their cute, small bodies and soft skin and tinkling laughter. Instead, here he was pressed intimately against a man who, while definitely the definition of handsome, was neither small nor was all soft flesh nor had tinkling laughter. It was kind of disturbing to even associate Hirato with tinkling laughter.
Gareki shook off that thought and exhaled. His left hand came up to brush through Hirato’s falling fringe and he marvelled at how soft it was. The colour was unbelieveable as well. His fingertips guiltily trailed down a smooth cheek and dropped onto the captain’s chest where his shirt was unbuttoned down to the fourth button. Gareki found himself eyeing sharp collarbones and the hint of firm pectorals and without realising it, his fingers followed. The pads of his fingers dipped into the hollow of Hirato’s collarbone then slid down to his sternum, feeling one, two, three bony protrusions before it smoothed out into soft muscle. Almost in a daze, Gareki’s realised he had reached the V of the open collar and he was playing with the button there.
“Are you teasing me, Gareki?” Hirato’s voice suddenly said from next to his ear, voice low and husky from sleep.
Gareki jerked, startled, hand automatically retracting. He blinked and growled, “How long have you been awake?”
Hirato slid him closer, Gareki’s left leg sweeping further across the captain’s body. “Since you woke up. I wouldn’t be a good Circus member if I couldn’t sense movement in my sleep.”
Gareki stayed silent, now absolutely awake and tense. He tried to worm his way from Hirato’s hold, but he was held fast.
“Where are you going so soon?” Hirato asked. The hand not wrapped tight around Gareki rose to pull the teen closer. “I was liking where you were going.”
He pressed them together in a slow, closed-mouthed kiss. As they separated, Gareki found his hand at that V again, index and middle finger hooked in the apex. He was amazed at his own forwardness.
“Dream on, shitty four-eyes.” He didn’t completely remove his hand though, instead pressing his palm onto exposed skin and sliding up as he flushed lightly and leaned into Hirato’s face, hesitantly initiating contact. Hirato let the younger male take the lead, his skin tingling from where Gareki’s slow, cautious hand was exploring. However, an unmistakable heat was pooling in his groin and he knew it would alarm the teen.
He broke their kiss and grasped Gareki’s hand. “Gareki,” he said seriously, purple eyes calm. “You know where this is going. I want you so much, but I don’t think it would be good for either of us if we rushed into things.”
Gareki froze. Oh god he had been - where things were going - Hirato was right. He was in no way ready for this type of thing. What had he been thinking!?
He scrambled away along the couch, breathing heavily in alarm mixed with a heady arousal he didn’t even notice until then. His eyes cleared as he curled up as far away from Hirato as possible, line of sight inadvertently drawn to the clear evidence of how much the older man wanted him. He knew he was panicking. “THAT is not going anywhere near me!” he said plainly.
Hirato held up his hands in surrender. “It’s not. I apologize; I can’t control my body’s reaction to you.” To his credit, he did look regretful.
Gareki was still in mild shock. He couldn’t believe he himself had - had - touched the captain like that. This was way above his head.
“I’m leaving,” he said, picking up his book and pretty much doing a dash from the door. When he finally made it back to his room, he closed the door behind him, eyes shut and heart racing.
It was moment before he realised Nai wasn’t the only person in the room. Tsukumo and Yogi were seated on the floor near the chest of clothes near the window and had strange expressions.
“Um, Gareki-kun,” Yogi said serious. “I think we all need to talk about something.”
Hell no. By the way he was speaking, the blond probably knew or suspected something. Tsukumo was also eyeballing him. Nai looked a little confused, but sat on his bunk quietly, realising the seriousness of the situation.
Damn it.
---
Hirato couldn’t believe Gareki’s boldness. Granted, there was a slightly sleep-glazed look in his eyes, but he was very satisfied that Gareki found him attractive at some level. To play with his hair and fiddle with his shirt…
Hirato had always been told he was handsome. Nurses and people like Tsukumo appreciated his appearance. Hell, even Tsukitachi told him once. But to get physical affirmation that Gareki of all people was interested in him - Hirato was pleased.
---
Part 3