beer, sake, kisses, dreams
The last time Yody had been kissed by a coworker after five beers and two tumblers of sake, it had ended in Yone leaving the jimusho and starting up a different band of his own. Of course there had been a year of kisses (drunken and sober) in between, but the one thing had still eventually led to the other. Yody is sure of this.
So when he feels Gakki's lips moving insistently against his own, he jerks back in instinctual panic. The alcohol, the kiss and the impact of hitting his head against the wall behind him leave him reeling, and for a moment he can only gape at Gakki in open-mouthed silence.
"Wha-" he splutters. "Don't do that!"
Gakki sits back on his heels, regarding him calmly and a little amused. "Don't what? Kiss you? Or take you by surprise?"
"K-kiss, of course!"
"But I've been wanting to do it for ages now."
As though that were adequate explanation, Gakki pours more sake for both of them. He seems content to just let the kiss slide by, polishing off the rest of the yakisoba with gusto and launching into a story that Uchi had told him the other day. But Yody suddenly can't focus on anything but Gakki's lips-the plumpness of the bottom lip, the soft curve of the upper, how soft and supple they look now, glistening with a light sheen of sake...
'Drunk,' Yody reminds himself. 'You are drunk.' He finds himself leaning forward, inexorably drawn towards his best friend; but then thank god for the table between them because he suspects he would have tilted all the way in until his lips were pressed against Gakki's again, and that would never do.
Only the table isn't enough to stop Gakki. He stops mid-sentence and kisses Yody again.
This time Yody responds for a moment, enjoying the slightly bitter taste of alcohol on his lips, before he jerks back (and hits his head) once again. "I can't," he says, looking at Gakki with wide eyes. Wildly, he grasps at the first thought his mind offers. "We're coworkers Gakki, we can't."
There's a slight crease between his eyebrows this time as Gakki sits back on his heels. "That didn't stop you before, with Yone."
"No," Yody says mournfully, "No, it didn't."
The look Gakki turns on him is sharp and penetrating, and Yody thinks it's unfair that Gakki is always so rational, even while drunk. "You haven't been blaming yourself all this time about Yone, have you?"
"Not..." Yody hedges, "Not precisely..."
Affectionately, Gakki pushes Yody's head back lightly with a finger to his forehead. "Idiot. Yone's dreams just got bigger than Question? and Johnnys, that's all. You know he said it didn't have anything to do with us."
"But what about your dreams? What happens when your dreams get bigger too?"
"Then I would have left with the rest of FiVe, stupid." Gakki's smile is all crooked and honest, and Yody feels his heart squeeze in response. "And anyway, no matter how big they get, there'll always be room for you in my dreams."