These Painted Wings Ruki/Uruha 1/?
Title- These Painted Wings
Chapter- 1/?
Author- ultramarinelime
Beta -ultramarinelime
Genre- Romance, Angst, Drama (subject to addition)
Warnings- Mild suggestiveness, language
Rating- PG-13 (for now)
Pairings/Characters- Ruki/Uruha, Reita/Aoi
Word Count- 1,457
Summary- He laughed again and leaned his head back against the wall, honey-blonde hair swaying around his shoulders. “I’m Uruha,” he offered, smiling that beautiful smile again. “Anything I can call you?
Disclaimer- I own nothing but the idea. Any similarity to living people is purely coincidental.
Comments- I’m not sure where this came from, but I think there is definitely more to come! Comments are love <3
I painted a rosary the night before that job interview. I want you to know I have never been a religious person. I just never understood the idealisms attached to faith and prayer. It had always seemed born out of desperation. But that night I was desperate and, faith or not, I was praying for divine intervention.
It was the first time I had been away from home (and not on good terms, either) and the small amount of yen I had taken with me had barely managed me a run-down apartment. I soon realized the sheltered life of a rich businessman‘s son, whose reputation could not afford the blemishes of a miscreant as his offspring, had ill prepared me for the real world. And so I did the only things I knew how to do: I painted and I wrote, and when I remembered those wouldn’t put food on the table I started praying, too. Or maybe it was just that night.
It doesn’t seem to matter, though, because whether it had been days or just a few frantic pleas for help, I got the job. It wasn’t anything fancy (a barista at a local coffee shop) but it afforded me the liberty to do things I had always wanted to try. I started smoking, gauged my ears, and dyed my hair blond. I think now I did this mostly out of spite, but a part of me was just caught up in the freedom. I loved it. Thrived on it, actually. I guess you never realize how much there is to life unless you spend the majority of it on a leash. But I had broken free and was hell bent on making the best of it.
I think it was a few months after I had gotten that job when I met him. I had made some friends by then and I was out barhopping with a few of them. I’m not sure who suggested the bar we were in at the time, but it was dark and cramped. You couldn’t move without bumping into pulsating bodies or spilling someone’s drink. But, in it’s defense, it had a pretty good group for a bar. The people there were either too busy drinking their problems away to start anything or too intent on having a good time. So as far as bars go it wasn’t exactly the bottom of the barrel. Anyway, we were of the latter group and succeeding quite well, as I remember.
Aoi, a dark haired god of a man, as I had once heard it put, was ceremoniously playing matchmaker for his boyfriend, Reita, gaining unabashed amusement out of watching him squirm. And Kai, being a gentleman, was consoling the young ladies as they were turned away and replaced by other giggling candidates. I was simply enjoying the show and a very intense buzz.
I’m not sure where we were in our adventure when I decided I needed some air and excused myself for a smoke. It turned out to be the first link in a much larger chain of events but, like most things in life, I had no idea at the time. The air outside was cool and fresh (at least as fresh as it can be in Tokyo) and held the faintest scent of moisture. It was early October, the time of year the rain turns cold and warns of snow. I loved that smell and drank it in fully as I leaned against the graffiti plastered walls outside, rummaging for a cigarette. And that was the moment it happened.
It was a silver Corolla that pulled up into the parking lot. It had barely stopped before he was bailing out of the passenger seat in an attempt to escape the man driving, I later learned. His face was an enthralling mixture of frustration and pure energy. That’s the only way I can describe it. The man in the driver’s seat was yelling after him. I couldn’t hear what he said over my heartbeat but something caught that angel’s attention and he spun around violently, sending a string of vicious curses the other man’s way. I was glad I couldn’t see the look on his face then because I think now it would have ruined the beautiful image I had of him. I was also glad his driver seemed to give up and peeled away, still cursing but apparently uninterested in continuing their argument.
He just stood there for a moment staring after the car, his hands clenched in fists. After a few moments he seemed to relax, though, and turned back around towards me. I was nearly floored when he looked at me and I’m reasonably my heart learned how to do backflips in my chest just then. He was gorgeous, that’s the only word that comes close to fitting. He was wearing a pair of low cut black jeans with cuts at the top of his pale thighs. His shirt was red and vee cut, revealing well past his collarbone and just the faintest hint of his stomach. And he was looking directly at me, a smile now forming on his lips. Gorgeous.
“Hey there, beautiful, you got one to spare?” he asked, closing the distance between us in a few short strides to lean on the wall next to me. He was close and smelled like alcohol and chocolate.
“Sure,” I said slowly, handing him the pack and trying my hardest not to stare. My mind was starting to feel like jello. Mostly out of habit I brought my lighter up to the cigarette I had between my lips, nearly jumping when he leaned in close enough to use it as well. He let his face stay close to mine for a moment then giggled, pulling away and exhaling a transparent plume of smoke. His eyes were dancing excitedly, and I found myself laughing a little, too.
“Sorry,” he said, bringing a long leg up to rest on the wall. “Forgot my lighter.”
“It’s fine,” I said lightly. And quite honestly, I hadn’t minded one bit.
He laughed again and leaned his head back against the wall, honey-blonde hair swaying around his shoulders. “I’m Uruha,” he offered, smiling that beautiful smile again. “Anything I can call you?”
“Ruki,” I said, trying to smile with the same amount of enthusiasm. “If you like.”
“Mhm,” he hummed, mulling it over. “Ruki is nice. I was thinking about Angel, though. After all, a cigarette and a light, whenever has a boy been so lucky?”
I didn’t tell him I had been calling him the same think in my head since I had first seen him. Or that I didn’t feel he was the lucky one in the situation.
“It’s really nothing,” I said, dropping my cigarette onto the damp concrete.
“I’ll get you back, sometime.”
“Sounds good,” I said, something inside my stomach flipping pleasantly at the look he gave me. We were silent for a long minute and I thought passingly he might be thinking to kiss me the way he was staring. If he had planned to, though, he never got the chance.
“Hey, Ru! You still out here?”
I jumped, dropping my lighter as I did. Aoi was stumbling out the front door, a protective arm around Reita. Kai was close behind them, smiling dumbly; and even more dumbly when he noticed the blonde leaning close to me to hand me my dropped zippo.
“Who’s your friend?” Aoi asked slowly, eyeing Uruha darkly. His arm tightened about Reita, who squirmed in protest.
I think I made to answer, but Uruha beat me to it. “No one important,” he said flatly, seeming to size Aoi up. There was a weird tension in the air that made my skin crawl.
“See you later, Angel,” Uruha murmured. His tone was sweet but his eyes had turned dim and cross. He didn’t wait for a reply from me but pushed elegantly between the three men standing between him and the door.
Aoi turned toward me, an expression I had never seen clouding his features. “Who was that?” he asked slowly.
“His name’s Uruha,” I answered, glancing at the ground in an attempt to hide my smile. I liked the way it sounded coming out of my mouth, but I didn’t think Aoi needed to know that.
Kai giggled drunkenly and received a glare from Aoi as he did so.
“I think it is time to go,” he said, annunciating every word perfectly and threateningly as if daring anyone to protest. We didn’t. There was a bizarre feeling of alarm hanging around him and I was far from brave enough to question it. Looking back now, I probably should have.