Akame: I dance to the rhythm of your heartbeat, PG
Title: I dance to the rhythm of your heartbeat
Pairing: Akame
Rating: PG
Warnings: There is not much to warn for.
For: kimiwapet2150 @ jexchange.
Word Count: 1,537
Author's Notes: Wrote this ages ago for jexchange, and completely forgot about it. Now posting it here for archiving purposes.
I dance to the rhythm of your heartbeat
When Jin comes back after six months, Kame isn’t sure what to do, how to act. Six months is too long, far too long. Ticking the days off on his calendar hasn’t helped. Neither has inspecting his watch every five minutes and wondering why time isn’t going any faster. But it’s over now, at last, those six months of wait-- and Kame is, all of a sudden, just as lost as he was during those six months.
The text which Pi sends him is probably one of the strangest texts he’s ever received in his life. His phone beeps while he is in a convenience store buying late night snack. There are about five rows of emoticons conveying happiness and excitement, and then it says ‘MABUDACHI BACK HERE JIMUSHO’. One row of hearts and then five more rows of the same flailing emoticons.
It takes about one whole minute for the message to register in Kame’s mind, and the next thing he knows is that he’s running and catching the next train to the jimusho. On the way there he tries not to think about why Pi is the first one to know, and not him. Jealousy has never done any good, he reminds himself. He sprints down the corridor and throws the door open, and there is the person he’s been waiting for.
Seeing Jin for the first time is something which steals his breath away. It probably isn’t anything close to what he dreamed of, but it’s Jin. It’s Jin with a weary look, a little older than Kame remembers. It’s Jin with a long mane of black hair and Kame wonders if Jin ever thought about entering a hairdresser’s in America.
“Welcome back,” Kame says, licking his dry lips with his tongue and hoping his voice isn’t faltering, isn’t giving away his weaknesses-- weakness. His weakness has always been Jin, and only Jin.
Jin’s smile is easy and comforting and it is enough to give Kame a small sense of security. “It’s been a while,” he says. “How’ve you been?”
How have you been, you idiot? Kame wants to ask, but doesn’t. “I’ve been fine,” Kame replies, and maybe it’s a lie, he doesn’t care anymore, he only wants to think that it will be fine now, the six of them once more, and everyone will be happy.
“That’s good to know.” The atmosphere is tense and awkward. Neither of them really knows what to say.
Kame fishes for something appropriate to say, something, anything to continue this conversation. “-- You look tired,” he remarks finally.
“Yeah, well, the plane ride was hell,” Jin answers with a slight grimace. “It was bloody long and I’d already watched all the movies they had, and there was nothing else to do and no one to talk to, but you know I can’t fall asleep easily on planes. And I don’t like the food they serve.”
I know, I know. Kame’s recalls their flight to New York so long ago to shoot their first photobook. He remembers still-- how Jin complained about the food and announced he was going to vomit after eating the mashed potatoes, and how he kept poking at the pasta after that without eating anything, until the attendant came and took the tray away. He remembers how Jin kicked around in his seat and never quite managed to sleep properly. Jin on a plane is different-- Jin on a plane doesn’t eat and sleep like a pig like Jin on land does, and Kame knows. But back then, Jin had him. Kame’s heart twists painfully when he imagines Jin all by himself on a plane, playing with his food and squirming in his seat with no one to listen to him whine.
“Well, you’re back on land now, at least,” Kame points out, “and hopefully you’re never going to have to fly alone again.” Never ever ever.
And before he knows it he is in Jin’s arms. He stiffens and blinks, once, twice, and he feels tears forming in his eyes. He has no idea when Jin closed that distance between them, but the warmth is overwhelming. He stops resisting and relaxes into the embrace, burying his nose in the crook of Jin’s neck and inhaling deeply. The scent is both pleasant and unpleasant. Jin still smells of the stale air in planes. Underneath that there is sweat and cologne mixed together. Kame recognizes the cologne. It’s the one that Jin has always used, even before he left for America, and somehow that pleases Kame.
“Welcome back,” Kame whispers, his lips barely half an inch away from Jin’s skin, and he is trying his best to force the tears back. “Welcome back.”
“That’s the third time you’ve said it now,” Jin comments, laughing. Kame swears he can feel the laugh vibrating through Jin’s body. “Not that I mind.”
“I’ll never get tired of saying it,” Kame admits, and is surprised at his own boldness. He feels natural now, as if there aren’t six months between them. Jin’s eyes are wide and there is happiness gleaming in his expression. “Where’s Pi?” Kame asks, suddenly remembering. “Shouldn’t he be here?”
“I sent him off to buy me something to eat,” Jin says sheepishly. “Hopefully he won’t be back… yet.”
“I thought you were hungry,” Kame begins, but then he realizes with a sharp tingling in his chest what Jin means.
“Yeah, I am,” Jin says, mouth curving into a lopsided grin as he leans in. Kame gasps into the kiss, and the feeling of Jin’s lips slanting against his has never been more welcome.
---
The days that come after that are like dreams, hazily drifting through the press conference and interviews. They hold hands at the concert, the two of them, and sometimes Jin slings his arm casually over Kame’s shoulder. The fans scream and Jin is happy, Kame is happy, and KAT-TUN is the six of them standing on the stage together again. It takes a while for Jin to get used to the attention again, but Kame being close by helps. Kame is always there, and Jin knows that whenever he reaches out he will be able to touch Kame.
After the concerts when they are alone together, Jin often blows into Kame’s ear and Kame giggles and says it tickles. Jin doesn’t say anything but he smiles, he smiles and pushes back Kame’s bangs, and bumps his nose against Kame’s. And then Kame tilts his head just that little bit so that their lips fit together, in perfect symmetry.
And things are going to be all right, Kame thinks. They are going to stay this way forever.
---
They still end up fighting over something. They end up fighting over many things, really.
---
Sometimes Kame doesn’t think before he speaks. Sometimes he thinks too much before he speaks. Sometimes he does a combination of both. He tries to talk to Jin about the six months. “It was difficult,” he says, and he tries to keep his tone neutral. He tries to let Jin know that he doesn’t really mind, it’s over now, it really is. “It was difficult on my own, I had to do a lot more work--”
But Jin doesn’t understand. Jin takes it the wrong way, “You think I had it easy?” Kame realizes that it was probably a bad time to bring this up. They are both tired from filming cartoon KAT-TUN, and both of them need rest. Kame notices the bags under Jin’s eyes and knows he looks exactly the same.
“No, I don’t,” Kame snaps. “I think it was probably tough for you too, but I’m just saying--”
“Shut up,” Jin yells, putting his hands over his ears, and with his heart clenching Kame remembers another situation years ago like this. An argument starting and Jin refusing to listen.
Jin is still such a boy sometimes.
Kame doesn’t know how to make Jin listen, he never has really, and that’s why they end up fighting so much, so he just sits there and watches Jin. Jin has his eyes tightly shut and he doesn’t ever open them, and after waiting for about fifteen minutes Kame comes to the conclusion that he’s fallen asleep. Kame bites his lip and reclines back into the pillow next to Jin’s and worries over how he’s going to solve this.
---
They don’t speak for several days after that. Pi gets worried and invites Jin out to lunch with him. They talk. Jin eats a lot and sulks a lot, but when Kame next sees him, he smiles a little. Kame seizes this chance and speaks first, “I know it wasn’t easy in America.”
Jin is startled. “I know it wasn’t easy in Japan either,” he mumbles slowly. “But it’s ok now, right? It’s ok now that I’m back.” His head falls onto Kame’s shoulder, and Kame finds himself grinning.
“Yeah,” he mutters, nuzzling Jin’s hair and pressing a soft kiss onto Jin’s forehead. “Yeah.”
They fight, that’s what they do, and it’s inevitable. But they always know they’ll stop fighting eventually, and that’s what matters. They fight, and they stop fighting.
That’s what they always do.
--fin.
Pairing: Akame
Rating: PG
Warnings: There is not much to warn for.
For: kimiwapet2150 @ jexchange.
Word Count: 1,537
Author's Notes: Wrote this ages ago for jexchange, and completely forgot about it. Now posting it here for archiving purposes.
I dance to the rhythm of your heartbeat
When Jin comes back after six months, Kame isn’t sure what to do, how to act. Six months is too long, far too long. Ticking the days off on his calendar hasn’t helped. Neither has inspecting his watch every five minutes and wondering why time isn’t going any faster. But it’s over now, at last, those six months of wait-- and Kame is, all of a sudden, just as lost as he was during those six months.
The text which Pi sends him is probably one of the strangest texts he’s ever received in his life. His phone beeps while he is in a convenience store buying late night snack. There are about five rows of emoticons conveying happiness and excitement, and then it says ‘MABUDACHI BACK HERE JIMUSHO’. One row of hearts and then five more rows of the same flailing emoticons.
It takes about one whole minute for the message to register in Kame’s mind, and the next thing he knows is that he’s running and catching the next train to the jimusho. On the way there he tries not to think about why Pi is the first one to know, and not him. Jealousy has never done any good, he reminds himself. He sprints down the corridor and throws the door open, and there is the person he’s been waiting for.
Seeing Jin for the first time is something which steals his breath away. It probably isn’t anything close to what he dreamed of, but it’s Jin. It’s Jin with a weary look, a little older than Kame remembers. It’s Jin with a long mane of black hair and Kame wonders if Jin ever thought about entering a hairdresser’s in America.
“Welcome back,” Kame says, licking his dry lips with his tongue and hoping his voice isn’t faltering, isn’t giving away his weaknesses-- weakness. His weakness has always been Jin, and only Jin.
Jin’s smile is easy and comforting and it is enough to give Kame a small sense of security. “It’s been a while,” he says. “How’ve you been?”
How have you been, you idiot? Kame wants to ask, but doesn’t. “I’ve been fine,” Kame replies, and maybe it’s a lie, he doesn’t care anymore, he only wants to think that it will be fine now, the six of them once more, and everyone will be happy.
“That’s good to know.” The atmosphere is tense and awkward. Neither of them really knows what to say.
Kame fishes for something appropriate to say, something, anything to continue this conversation. “-- You look tired,” he remarks finally.
“Yeah, well, the plane ride was hell,” Jin answers with a slight grimace. “It was bloody long and I’d already watched all the movies they had, and there was nothing else to do and no one to talk to, but you know I can’t fall asleep easily on planes. And I don’t like the food they serve.”
I know, I know. Kame’s recalls their flight to New York so long ago to shoot their first photobook. He remembers still-- how Jin complained about the food and announced he was going to vomit after eating the mashed potatoes, and how he kept poking at the pasta after that without eating anything, until the attendant came and took the tray away. He remembers how Jin kicked around in his seat and never quite managed to sleep properly. Jin on a plane is different-- Jin on a plane doesn’t eat and sleep like a pig like Jin on land does, and Kame knows. But back then, Jin had him. Kame’s heart twists painfully when he imagines Jin all by himself on a plane, playing with his food and squirming in his seat with no one to listen to him whine.
“Well, you’re back on land now, at least,” Kame points out, “and hopefully you’re never going to have to fly alone again.” Never ever ever.
And before he knows it he is in Jin’s arms. He stiffens and blinks, once, twice, and he feels tears forming in his eyes. He has no idea when Jin closed that distance between them, but the warmth is overwhelming. He stops resisting and relaxes into the embrace, burying his nose in the crook of Jin’s neck and inhaling deeply. The scent is both pleasant and unpleasant. Jin still smells of the stale air in planes. Underneath that there is sweat and cologne mixed together. Kame recognizes the cologne. It’s the one that Jin has always used, even before he left for America, and somehow that pleases Kame.
“Welcome back,” Kame whispers, his lips barely half an inch away from Jin’s skin, and he is trying his best to force the tears back. “Welcome back.”
“That’s the third time you’ve said it now,” Jin comments, laughing. Kame swears he can feel the laugh vibrating through Jin’s body. “Not that I mind.”
“I’ll never get tired of saying it,” Kame admits, and is surprised at his own boldness. He feels natural now, as if there aren’t six months between them. Jin’s eyes are wide and there is happiness gleaming in his expression. “Where’s Pi?” Kame asks, suddenly remembering. “Shouldn’t he be here?”
“I sent him off to buy me something to eat,” Jin says sheepishly. “Hopefully he won’t be back… yet.”
“I thought you were hungry,” Kame begins, but then he realizes with a sharp tingling in his chest what Jin means.
“Yeah, I am,” Jin says, mouth curving into a lopsided grin as he leans in. Kame gasps into the kiss, and the feeling of Jin’s lips slanting against his has never been more welcome.
---
The days that come after that are like dreams, hazily drifting through the press conference and interviews. They hold hands at the concert, the two of them, and sometimes Jin slings his arm casually over Kame’s shoulder. The fans scream and Jin is happy, Kame is happy, and KAT-TUN is the six of them standing on the stage together again. It takes a while for Jin to get used to the attention again, but Kame being close by helps. Kame is always there, and Jin knows that whenever he reaches out he will be able to touch Kame.
After the concerts when they are alone together, Jin often blows into Kame’s ear and Kame giggles and says it tickles. Jin doesn’t say anything but he smiles, he smiles and pushes back Kame’s bangs, and bumps his nose against Kame’s. And then Kame tilts his head just that little bit so that their lips fit together, in perfect symmetry.
And things are going to be all right, Kame thinks. They are going to stay this way forever.
---
They still end up fighting over something. They end up fighting over many things, really.
---
Sometimes Kame doesn’t think before he speaks. Sometimes he thinks too much before he speaks. Sometimes he does a combination of both. He tries to talk to Jin about the six months. “It was difficult,” he says, and he tries to keep his tone neutral. He tries to let Jin know that he doesn’t really mind, it’s over now, it really is. “It was difficult on my own, I had to do a lot more work--”
But Jin doesn’t understand. Jin takes it the wrong way, “You think I had it easy?” Kame realizes that it was probably a bad time to bring this up. They are both tired from filming cartoon KAT-TUN, and both of them need rest. Kame notices the bags under Jin’s eyes and knows he looks exactly the same.
“No, I don’t,” Kame snaps. “I think it was probably tough for you too, but I’m just saying--”
“Shut up,” Jin yells, putting his hands over his ears, and with his heart clenching Kame remembers another situation years ago like this. An argument starting and Jin refusing to listen.
Jin is still such a boy sometimes.
Kame doesn’t know how to make Jin listen, he never has really, and that’s why they end up fighting so much, so he just sits there and watches Jin. Jin has his eyes tightly shut and he doesn’t ever open them, and after waiting for about fifteen minutes Kame comes to the conclusion that he’s fallen asleep. Kame bites his lip and reclines back into the pillow next to Jin’s and worries over how he’s going to solve this.
---
They don’t speak for several days after that. Pi gets worried and invites Jin out to lunch with him. They talk. Jin eats a lot and sulks a lot, but when Kame next sees him, he smiles a little. Kame seizes this chance and speaks first, “I know it wasn’t easy in America.”
Jin is startled. “I know it wasn’t easy in Japan either,” he mumbles slowly. “But it’s ok now, right? It’s ok now that I’m back.” His head falls onto Kame’s shoulder, and Kame finds himself grinning.
“Yeah,” he mutters, nuzzling Jin’s hair and pressing a soft kiss onto Jin’s forehead. “Yeah.”
They fight, that’s what they do, and it’s inevitable. But they always know they’ll stop fighting eventually, and that’s what matters. They fight, and they stop fighting.
That’s what they always do.
--fin.