HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERICA!
You have been an amazing person in my life this past year and I am so grateful for you. If you drop me a prompt I will write you something. Come, I bid you ask me anything. ♥
(Sorry it's late. My internet was kind of a bitch and then I wrote some stuff.)
And now, unrelated, a fic from the Fish AU. Which probably needs a title of some sort someday. This takes place AFTER the bowl-making bit, but before the 'my friends came to tell you to stop getting your homo on me' bit.
Ohno can't keep buying fish food. He's taken to dumping it off the catamaran, he's got so much of it. But he doesn't know what else to do when it's Chinen at the counter, beaming at him, and when it's Nino in the shop he needs something to rightfully keep his attention. So he asks Nino about different kinds of fish food and pretends that HIS Nino hasn't been looking as bright-eyed and glossy-scaled as he should be.
But if there's one thing he's learned about Nino (the person) it's that Nino hates waste. Sadly, this is something he learned from hanging out with Toma and Pi and Pi's friend Shige. Being around Nino makes Ohno a little bit flustered. He's not sure what to do or say because he's afraid he's going to end up kissing him. He doesn't know how Nino feels about that.
But he can't keep buying fish food.
"Hey, it's Oh-chan," Nino says from behind the counter. He's got a game in his hands. "We're going to have to start special ordering food for you if this keeps up."
"Not today," Ohno says. He thumps Nino's bowl-his BIG bowl-down on the counter.
Nino looks at him and then at the slightly-sloshing water with his yellow counterpart in it. "Okay," he says. His game pings and he shuts it off without saving. Ohno feels a little flutter in his stomach but he's so used to it by now that he hardly notices it. He likes it anyhow. "Oh-chan? Come back, Oh-chan," Nino is calling him, coaxingly and gently but he's got a wicked grin on his face.
Ohno makes a face at him. "Nino needs a friend. He's lonely by himself."
And, oh, he really wants to kiss Nino. Just a peck would do. Nino's got his cheek in his hand, his elbow planted on the counter, and that smile, not the wicked one but the one that curls up like kitten on his mouth. "Is that so?" Nino asks, that kitten-smile still in place.
It's all Ohno can do to nod. "He's lonely," he repeats.
"Maybe he is," Nino says and he's up and moving. "Well, let's see if we can't-where did you get him, anyhow?" Nino turns to him and Ohno almost spills Nino all over them both. "We haven't had gobies for months. There was clownfish disease in our supplier's breeding tank."
Ohno looks at Nino and wonders how something so basic hasn't come up before. "I caught him. While I was fishing. On my boat."
Nino's eyebrows go up, like startled little birds. "You caught him out on the open ocean while out on your boat." He gives a jerky tilt of his head. "You're a strange guy, Oh-chan."
"My friends wanted me to throw him back. Or use him as bait. Or food." Ohno says, following Nino to the back of the store. "But he was mine. He was for me."
Nino says something that Ohno doesn't hear over the barking of the puppies. "Hey, here's the tanks," he says over the dogs, waving at a wall of fish tanks that Ohno has stared at before while trying to decide if he could leave without Chinen noticing. "I suggest a blennie."
Ohno looked at the tanks in despair. He doesn't want to choose a fish right away. He wants to stay a while. Talk. Even if it is about fish he isn't going to catch and eat. "They're pretty plain looking."
"Ah, so you want something flashy. I knew there was a hidden side to you, Oh-chan," Nino gives him a small grin.
"How about that one?" Ohno sets Nino's bowl down at his feet so that he can point to a tank and a bright blue, delicately finned fish inside. "He's nice."
Nino, the person, snorts. "He's a Mandarin and you don't want him. He needs a reef to be happy and constant pampering. He won't travel well and you're not home every day to see to him."
Ohno's little flutter kicks up again. Nino knew things about him. Things Ohno hadn't told him which means that Nino has noticed. "I work a lot. I go to Tokyo a lot."
Leaning against the wall of tanks, Nino smiles. It is small and amused and a bit…something Ohno can't name. "Yeah, I figured. What with your being famous when you're not here."
"How about him?" Ohno asks, pointing blindly.
He watches as Nino's face turns delighted. "Trying to kill him off, are we?" Ohno feels his face fall and Nino laughs at him, making him smile again. "They're reefies, too, and they will eat your Ninomiya without a second thought. How about one of the damsels?"
Ohno looks at the tank of blue fish with yellow tails. "They're…all right." He doesn't want to decide yet. "They're bigger than Nino. What if they scare him?"
Nino snickers.
Ohno points at a tank full of darting, brightly-hued fish. "How about one of those?"
"Not saltwater," Nino says. He points to another tank. "Mollies are a good choice for beginners." It was full of white fish with black dots. "Or are they not flashy enough?"
They're not enough time to spend with you, Ohno thinks. "No," he says.
It takes an hour and Ohno goes against Nino's objections to get a neon-bright, multicolored fish that Nino calls a wrasse. It's because the name was funny and he fully admitts it as Nino rings up his purchase.
"You let this guy's bag sit in here with Nino so he gets acclimated, all right?" Nino instructs, handing him the receipt and plopping the bag of new-fish and water into the fishbowl. "Give it an hour."
"Okay." Ohno looks at Nino across the counter. "Want to eat lunch with me?"
Nino's head snaps up. "What?"
Ohno puts his hands on the counter and presses his fingertips against it, pushing down. "I thought we could leave this stuff here and get some ramen or something."
"Ramen."
"To say thank you for all your help," Ohno lies a little. In Tokyo he is used to being told where and when to go and how to act and who to go with. And here on the island it is always Toma or Pi or Shige or Jin asking him along out. He supposes that he could ask Nino out the way he might ask a girl but he doesn't want to blow this and he hasn't had to ask a girl for a date-with the possibility of her saying no-since he was sixteen. "It's no good?" he asks.
Nino shakes his head, but not as a 'no'. "No, it's fine. You want to go over to Noodle Hut or to Hots?"
Ohno's fingers relax one at a time. "Wherever Nino wants to go is fine."
The look Nino gives him is long and unreadable. "Noodle Hut is cheaper, then. Are we bringing Nino and…"
"Chinen," Ohno decides on the spot.
Nino makes a face. "Along with us?" he finishes.
Ohno looks at Nino, happily lipping at Chinen's bag. "Sorry, Nino. It's just me and Nino for now, okay?"
Person Nino is giving him another inscrutable look as they walk out the door together and he locks the store behind them.
Person Nino is laughing in his face an hour and half later, however. "I told you!" he crows.
Ohno stares at Chinen's empty bag and Nino, swimming lazily along the bottom of his bowl. "But-" he says.
"I said not to!" Nino is radiant in his triumph.
"But Chinen was his friend!" Ohno protests. "How could he eat him?"
Nino is too busy laughing to answer and Ohno finds he doesn't care. Not in the slightest.
(Sorry it's late. My internet was kind of a bitch and then I wrote some stuff.)
And now, unrelated, a fic from the Fish AU. Which probably needs a title of some sort someday. This takes place AFTER the bowl-making bit, but before the 'my friends came to tell you to stop getting your homo on me' bit.
Ohno can't keep buying fish food. He's taken to dumping it off the catamaran, he's got so much of it. But he doesn't know what else to do when it's Chinen at the counter, beaming at him, and when it's Nino in the shop he needs something to rightfully keep his attention. So he asks Nino about different kinds of fish food and pretends that HIS Nino hasn't been looking as bright-eyed and glossy-scaled as he should be.
But if there's one thing he's learned about Nino (the person) it's that Nino hates waste. Sadly, this is something he learned from hanging out with Toma and Pi and Pi's friend Shige. Being around Nino makes Ohno a little bit flustered. He's not sure what to do or say because he's afraid he's going to end up kissing him. He doesn't know how Nino feels about that.
But he can't keep buying fish food.
"Hey, it's Oh-chan," Nino says from behind the counter. He's got a game in his hands. "We're going to have to start special ordering food for you if this keeps up."
"Not today," Ohno says. He thumps Nino's bowl-his BIG bowl-down on the counter.
Nino looks at him and then at the slightly-sloshing water with his yellow counterpart in it. "Okay," he says. His game pings and he shuts it off without saving. Ohno feels a little flutter in his stomach but he's so used to it by now that he hardly notices it. He likes it anyhow. "Oh-chan? Come back, Oh-chan," Nino is calling him, coaxingly and gently but he's got a wicked grin on his face.
Ohno makes a face at him. "Nino needs a friend. He's lonely by himself."
And, oh, he really wants to kiss Nino. Just a peck would do. Nino's got his cheek in his hand, his elbow planted on the counter, and that smile, not the wicked one but the one that curls up like kitten on his mouth. "Is that so?" Nino asks, that kitten-smile still in place.
It's all Ohno can do to nod. "He's lonely," he repeats.
"Maybe he is," Nino says and he's up and moving. "Well, let's see if we can't-where did you get him, anyhow?" Nino turns to him and Ohno almost spills Nino all over them both. "We haven't had gobies for months. There was clownfish disease in our supplier's breeding tank."
Ohno looks at Nino and wonders how something so basic hasn't come up before. "I caught him. While I was fishing. On my boat."
Nino's eyebrows go up, like startled little birds. "You caught him out on the open ocean while out on your boat." He gives a jerky tilt of his head. "You're a strange guy, Oh-chan."
"My friends wanted me to throw him back. Or use him as bait. Or food." Ohno says, following Nino to the back of the store. "But he was mine. He was for me."
Nino says something that Ohno doesn't hear over the barking of the puppies. "Hey, here's the tanks," he says over the dogs, waving at a wall of fish tanks that Ohno has stared at before while trying to decide if he could leave without Chinen noticing. "I suggest a blennie."
Ohno looked at the tanks in despair. He doesn't want to choose a fish right away. He wants to stay a while. Talk. Even if it is about fish he isn't going to catch and eat. "They're pretty plain looking."
"Ah, so you want something flashy. I knew there was a hidden side to you, Oh-chan," Nino gives him a small grin.
"How about that one?" Ohno sets Nino's bowl down at his feet so that he can point to a tank and a bright blue, delicately finned fish inside. "He's nice."
Nino, the person, snorts. "He's a Mandarin and you don't want him. He needs a reef to be happy and constant pampering. He won't travel well and you're not home every day to see to him."
Ohno's little flutter kicks up again. Nino knew things about him. Things Ohno hadn't told him which means that Nino has noticed. "I work a lot. I go to Tokyo a lot."
Leaning against the wall of tanks, Nino smiles. It is small and amused and a bit…something Ohno can't name. "Yeah, I figured. What with your being famous when you're not here."
"How about him?" Ohno asks, pointing blindly.
He watches as Nino's face turns delighted. "Trying to kill him off, are we?" Ohno feels his face fall and Nino laughs at him, making him smile again. "They're reefies, too, and they will eat your Ninomiya without a second thought. How about one of the damsels?"
Ohno looks at the tank of blue fish with yellow tails. "They're…all right." He doesn't want to decide yet. "They're bigger than Nino. What if they scare him?"
Nino snickers.
Ohno points at a tank full of darting, brightly-hued fish. "How about one of those?"
"Not saltwater," Nino says. He points to another tank. "Mollies are a good choice for beginners." It was full of white fish with black dots. "Or are they not flashy enough?"
They're not enough time to spend with you, Ohno thinks. "No," he says.
It takes an hour and Ohno goes against Nino's objections to get a neon-bright, multicolored fish that Nino calls a wrasse. It's because the name was funny and he fully admitts it as Nino rings up his purchase.
"You let this guy's bag sit in here with Nino so he gets acclimated, all right?" Nino instructs, handing him the receipt and plopping the bag of new-fish and water into the fishbowl. "Give it an hour."
"Okay." Ohno looks at Nino across the counter. "Want to eat lunch with me?"
Nino's head snaps up. "What?"
Ohno puts his hands on the counter and presses his fingertips against it, pushing down. "I thought we could leave this stuff here and get some ramen or something."
"Ramen."
"To say thank you for all your help," Ohno lies a little. In Tokyo he is used to being told where and when to go and how to act and who to go with. And here on the island it is always Toma or Pi or Shige or Jin asking him along out. He supposes that he could ask Nino out the way he might ask a girl but he doesn't want to blow this and he hasn't had to ask a girl for a date-with the possibility of her saying no-since he was sixteen. "It's no good?" he asks.
Nino shakes his head, but not as a 'no'. "No, it's fine. You want to go over to Noodle Hut or to Hots?"
Ohno's fingers relax one at a time. "Wherever Nino wants to go is fine."
The look Nino gives him is long and unreadable. "Noodle Hut is cheaper, then. Are we bringing Nino and…"
"Chinen," Ohno decides on the spot.
Nino makes a face. "Along with us?" he finishes.
Ohno looks at Nino, happily lipping at Chinen's bag. "Sorry, Nino. It's just me and Nino for now, okay?"
Person Nino is giving him another inscrutable look as they walk out the door together and he locks the store behind them.
Person Nino is laughing in his face an hour and half later, however. "I told you!" he crows.
Ohno stares at Chinen's empty bag and Nino, swimming lazily along the bottom of his bowl. "But-" he says.
"I said not to!" Nino is radiant in his triumph.
"But Chinen was his friend!" Ohno protests. "How could he eat him?"
Nino is too busy laughing to answer and Ohno finds he doesn't care. Not in the slightest.