JE Fic: I Bet You Can't, Ryo/Kame, RyoPin, PG-13
Title: I Bet You Can't
Pairing/Group: Ryo/Kame, Ryo/Yamapi/Jin as friends
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Babying, Ridiculous betting?
Notes: Written for sadnlonleyme, for je_holiday. I had a lot of fun with this. Thank you to those of you (especially spurious) who read this for me and held my hand while I was writing it, and helped me fix it, all 5,200 words of it.
Summary: It all starts with a bet.
It's a Sunday afternoon, and it's the first time in weeks the three of them have been able to meet up. Ryo complains when they end up in his apartment, but no one believes that he's actually bothered. Everyone is too tired to really go anywhere. At the moment, Jin and Ryo are immersed in Mario Kart, and Yamapi is flipping through this month's Myojo, wincing at the way his perm looks, messy and fried and out of place on the shiny, neat pages.
"Hey," Ryo says suddenly, as his car whizzes past Jin, "I bet you can't go a day without getting off to a Leah Dizon magazine spread."
"Yeah?" Jin says smoothly, "I bet you can't go a day without getting off thinking about Pi's sister."
Yamapi sighs and turns the page of his magazine as Ryo's car careens off the tracks.
"Fuck off!" he says, a little shrilly. "I bet you can't spend an hour with Pi without getting in an argument."
Baby Peach, Ryo's character of choice, swerves back onto the track just in time to crash into Donkey Kong, Jin's character, spinning them both off course.
"I bet you can't go an hour with Kame without getting in an argument!" Jin says, trying desperately to extinguish the fire that's erupted from Donkey Kong's car.
"Dumb bet, Bakanishi, Kamenashi probably wouldn't argue with Ryo-chan," Yamapi says, idly turning the page of his magazine.
"Fine," Jin says sourly, shooting Yamapi a nasty look as Baby Peach crosses the finish line. "Spend an hour with Kame without insulting him."
"And…?" Ryo is already stretching, victorious, and smiling.
"And…" Jin pauses. "And I'll post to the WinkUp boards that you're better than me."
Ryo smiles even wider. "It's about time you admit that."
"And if you lose," Jin continues, as if Ryo never spoke, "you take Kame out and…"
Jin bursts into laughter as he watches Baby Peach doing a little victory lap. "-and you baby him," Jin finishes, chortling softly to himself.
"Baby him?" Ryo looks much less victorious now, and much more horrified.
"Yes, treat him like he's your little girl. Baby him."
"Fine," Ryo says. "Fine, whatever. Get ready to humiliate yourself, Akanishi."
*
Ryo can already tell he'll lose this bet.
"Nishikido-kun," Kame says carefully, regarding his menu as if he's never been here before. Ryo knows for a fact that he's been here-it's Kame's favorite restaurant. "I just don't understand why we're here…"
"Shut up and order," Ryo says.
Their eyes meet over the top of Kame's menu and Ryo has a horrible, sick, twisting feeling in his gut as he wonders if 'shut up' counts as an insult. It passes though-a moment later Kame is talking about Sea Bass and whether or not it's prepared with the right sauce, whether or not the chef will send it along with the right side dish tonight, whether or not the wine will match. It matches best with something that has a full, fruity flavor, Kame claims.
Ryo grunts, suppresses a comment about Kame being fruity, and swallows a gulp of water noisily.
They're well into dessert, actually, before Ryo makes his fatal mistake.
"So," he says, staring boredly at the failed chocolate mousse Kame seems to be enjoying. "Doing any new dramas?"
Kame's entire demeanor brightens. "Actually," he says enthusiastically, "next month I start a drama about a door-to-door salesperson with ESP who starts using his powers to save people from poor purchasing decisions!"
Ryo stares.
Kame stares back.
It takes about thirty seconds, one awkward smile and a throwaway comment about ESP for Ryo to realize Kame isn't joking.
"Is this what happens in acting hell?" Ryo spits out, "Your career goes from just dead to a lurching zombie?"
The color drains out of Kame's face and his lips go impossibly thin, like some gross stick figure drawing of a blank face, and then he's standing, shoving away from the table and leaving. Ryo is left with the bill, and a horrible sensation that he's just lost a bet to Jin.
*
Ryo's phone rings at 8 the next morning. He's in a car, on his way to a NEWS costume fitting, and Jin's voice is surprisingly alert for the early hour.
"So I talked to Kame," Jin says, instead of hello. "I heard about your little date last night."
Jin sounds angrily victorious, and it's strange and disconcerting. Ryo yawns. "What do you want?"
"When are you taking him out again," Jin says, "to make up for last night?"
Ryo sloshes coffee down the front of his shirt and curses angrily, trying to mop up the hot mess as Jin laughs against his ear. Ryo hangs up.
Jin calls back three more times, leaves Ryo two voicemails and sends him three text messages. They're progressively more idiotic.
"I'm making you reservations again, tonight. In Pi's name. If you don't show up he'll look bad. Kame likes roses."
"Pick up you stupid little monkey!"
"asshole"
"kame's drama will b so much better than y"
"ours you skinny monkey"
Ryo turns off his phone and hopes for the best.
*
There's a car waiting at Ryo's apartment when he gets back from a photo shoot that night.
He's annoyed because he had to buy a new shirt on his lunch break today, and it's stiff and itchy with dye, and he's tired from smiling stupidly at the camera for two hours, and he wants nothing more than a cigarette, a beer, and a good movie he can fall asleep on the couch watching.
"Nishikido-san," the driver says with a bow, as Ryo climbs out of the backseat of his car. "I'm sorry but we'll have to hurry. Akanishi-san made the reservation at 8 and it's now 8:15…"
Ryo stares grumpily at the driver and considers telling him where Akanishi can stick his reservation. Instead he sighs, climbs into the back of the new car, and sinks back against the leather. He spends the entirety of the ten minute ride to the restaurant thinking about how he can get Jin back for this.
*
Kame looks pissy, even from a few yards away. He's slouched against the building, cigarette dangling between his skinny little feminine fingers, scowling as a stray lock of hair dances across his cheek. He's dressed nicely, though, Ryo will give him that.
"Hi," Ryo says, as he reaches him. Kame doesn't answer, just exhales. A little tendril of smoke winds its way around Ryo's face. Ryo wrinkles his nose and narrows his eyes against it, and he sees the corners of Kame's mouth tug up into an almost-smile.
"Look, it's not my fault that your boyfriend didn't bother to tell me when this reservation was going to be, and I had to work so it's not like I could have gotten here any earlier anyway and-"
Kame puts out his cigarette and purses his lips and Ryo feels like a stupid jackass for trying to explain himself. Whatever, he decides, Kame doesn't deserve an explanation when Ryo doesn't even want to be here.
"We should go in before they give our table away," Kame says quietly.
Ryo nods, but Kame makes no move towards the door. "What are you waiting for then?"
Kame quirks an eyebrow. "Well, aren't you going to open it for me?"
Ryo clenches his jaw, thinks nastily that Jin's making him do this because he's getting too fat to take Kame out himself. "Oh right," he says, as he steps towards the door. "Ladies first."
Kame walks past him and through the open door without comment, and they're situated at a private little table in the back of the restaurant within minutes.
"So," Kame says, watching Ryo over the top of his menu.
Ryo grunts noncommittally in response and fights back a yawn as he tries to decide what he can stomach here.
Kame clears his throat. "Jin said you would be ordering for me…?"
Ryo looks up in surprise. "Ordering… for you?"
Kame sets down his menu and twists his lips in confusion. "Well you're supposed to be making things up to me for the other night, right? And he said you wanted to order for me and-" Kame is looking steadily more horrified, his face pale and his eyes wide. "What's actually going on?"
Ryo opens his mouth and closes it again, and then it dawns on him-Jin didn't tell Kame about the bet.
Suddenly Ryo knows the perfect way to get back at Jin.
*
"You told him?" Yamapi says, tearing his attention away from Mario Kart to look at Ryo, shocked and scandalized. "You actually told him?"
Ryo shrugs. "Well," he says slowly, "not about the babying part, I mean… I feel like I sort of held up my end of the bet by enduring another dinner with him anyway."
Yamapi shakes his head, his focus back on the game. "Ah, Ryo-chan, I don't know… Kame will be pretty mad, ne?"
Yamapi's door bursts open then, and Jin comes tripping through, kicking off his shoes as he lurches towards them. "YOU!" Jin says.
Ryo laughs. Yamapi continues playing as if Jin isn't even there. Jin stumbles forward, sights set on Ryo.
"I can't believe you told him!!!"
"I can't believe you didn't," Ryo says dryly, as Jin meets his match in Yamapi's footrest and goes tumbling headfirst towards the floor. Ryo turns his attention back to the game. "Was he mad?"
Jin doesn't reply immediately, just lies on the floor behind Yamapi and Ryo, breathing heavily. Ryo is trying his hardest to pretend he has forgotten that Jin's there at all.
"Well," Jin says finally. "He was until I told him what you're going to do for him."
Mario, Yamapi's character, sails past Yoshi, Ryo's character, towards the finish as Yoshi's car spins out and careens off the track. Ryo turns to glare at Jin as Yamapi rises from the couch and steps easily over Jin to make a victorious sandwich.
"What exactly am I supposed to do?"
Jin smiles.
*
Kame looks annoyed and exhausted when he answers the door.
"What are you doing here?" he says, and Ryo has to bite down on his lower lip to keep from insulting him immediately.
"Here," he says, thrusting a bouquet towards Kame. They're nice flowers-Ryo likes to think he has good taste when it comes to these things, and they're the exact opposite of something Jin would have picked out-classy, understated, expensive.
Kame sort of smiles as he takes them, though his expression is still a little guarded. "Do you want to come in?"
Ryo shrugs but does, quietly stepping past Kame and glancing around the place as he takes off his shoes. Kame brushes past him, bouquet in hand.
"Just going to go put these in some water," he says.
"Un," Ryo says noncommittally, examining Kame's ridiculously clean, organized apartment. He makes himself comfortable on a soft white leather sofa and tries to figure out how to proceed.
"So," Kame says as he returns, sliding onto the couch next to Ryo, "you never did say why it is that you're here."
He's got a weirdly triumphant expression, like he thinks he does know why Ryo's here, that it's to apologize, and he's trying to force Ryo to say it. Ryo watches him for a moment, clears his throat, and jumps into action.
"Kamenashi," he murmurs, scooting closer to Kame on the sofa. Kame's eyes widen a little in alarm and Ryo raises a hand to brush away a lock of Kame's hair. "I'm here to take care of you."
Kame stares.
Ryo bites back a nervous laugh and lets his fingers drop, grazing Kame's cheek. "Tell me what I can do for you."
"Um," Kame says, gaze darting nervously around his apartment as if he'll find a hidden camera crew somewhere, filming this horrible joke on him. "What?"
Ryo continues gently stroking his cheek. "It's late… should I… tuck you in? Read you a little bedtime story?"
"Nishikido-kun-"
"Ryo," Ryo says softly, sliding a little bit closer, "call me Ryo."
Kame swallows and Ryo can feel the movement of his throat against his fingertips. He sort of enjoys that, and that sort of unsettles him.
"R-Ryo," Kame stutters, "I'm not sure what's going on here, but… I mean… Is this… Did Jin put you up to this?"
"Jin?" Ryo asks, trying his best to sound innocent when suddenly all he can think about is how weirdly soft and warm Kame's skin feels, how much his hair reminds him of a girl's, all sweet-smelling and silky-soft. "What about Jin?"
"I just-" Kame's voice drops a little. "I don't know why you're doing this."
Something wrenches in Ryo's chest, some awful feeling of guilt and pity and he feels like maybe this has gone too far, but at the same time… he is enjoying this, somehow. He tries not to think about how guilty he feels, and after a moment he scoops Kame up in his arms, in what he thinks is a tender and romantic move, only Kame is squirming against him, like he's being kidnapped or something.
"Hey," Ryo says softly, as Kame claws at his chest with sharp little fingers, "I'm just taking you to bed."
Kame's breath hitches.
"I... fine," Kame says, and then he slides hesitant arms around Ryo's neck to keep from falling. Ryo carries him carefully down the hallway towards what he assumes is Kame's room.
He leaves once Kame is tucked under the covers, half-smiling in bewildered, curious confusion.
*
It's 2 AM, Yamapi's door is unlocked, and Ryo lets himself in.
"Pi," he murmurs as he crawls onto his bed. "Pi, wake up."
"Mmmfh," Yamapi murmurs, stirring slightly in his sleep. He rolls over, away from Ryo.
"Yamapi," Ryo says, louder. "Wake up."
Yamapi makes a loud, disgruntled noise and stretches, nearly knocking Ryo in the face with his elbow in the process. "Sleeping," he grunts.
"Yes," Ryo says, "I noticed that. Did you catch the part where I said to wake up?"
Yamapi rolls towards him, cracks an eye open and groans a little. "How did you get in?"
"I just came from Kame's apartment," Ryo blurts out. "I… tucked him in."
There's a long silence.
"Yamapi," Ryo says, worried he's fallen back asleep.
Yamapi sighs and raises a hand to his forehead as if he's in a moderate amount of pain. "Ryo-chan, what are you talking about?"
"I was trying to do Jin's stupid bet," Ryo says, annoyed that he even has to explain. "And it was… I don't know, I wanted to… I don't know, stay there."
Pi yawns, stretches, and rolls away from Ryo. "Maybe you should have, ne."
Ryo's just about to feel hurt when Yamapi continues, mumbling against his pillow so that it's nearly incoherent.
"Sleep is important, Ryo-chan... should sleep too ne... should all sleep.... sleep."
Yamapi is already doing just that. Ryo decides that he's worthless, and leaves him just as he found him.
*
It's Yamapi's third serving of udon that makes Ryo realize something is up.
Generally, at two servings, Ryo calls Pi a pig and Yamapi makes up some excuse about needing it for health, ne, or because he read some article about noodles being good for creativity or some other sort of bullshit science. But three servings is pretty disgusting, even for Pi, even on a super noodle health kick.
Jin looks just as bothered as Ryo, though, and this is something else new. Usually he's an eager participant in the gluttony. Ryo asks the obvious question.
"Have you grown another stomach?"
Yamapi sort of grunts but continues eating. Jin stares forlornly at Yamapi as he consumes the entire bowl.
"We made this bet..." Jin says.
"Did you bet him that he couldn't consume the entire lunch hour menu? Because I think you might lose this one."
Jin sighs. "I bet him that he wouldn't change some of Mola's lines for the album recording."
Ryo raises an eyebrow. "Change them to...?"
Yamapi finishes his third bowl and slouches back against the booth with a satisfied moan. Jin stares sadly at the empty bowl.
"You know, things like... 'make you come' instead of 'make you numb'..."
"He's buying my meals for a month," Yamapi says, beaming across the table at Ryo.
"Christ," Ryo says, laughing, "you're going to be broke."
"Hey," Jin says, as the waitress takes his credit card, "how are things going with Kame?"
"Uh..." Ryo says, feeling inexplicably flushed and strangely unable to look at Yamapi. He can feel Pi looking at him, watching him, and it occurs to him that maybe he wasn't as asleep as he'd pretended to be the other night. "Going? As in... still going? I thought I was done."
Jin rolls his eyes. "You still have to make up for the dinner, you know! You can't go back on your bet."
"But I--"
It's at this point that Ryo realizes Kame never told Jin about Ryo's late night visit, and he wonders why. He's curious enough to want to keep it a secret himself, but also annoyed that Jin still thinks he's obligated to do something.
"Akanishi," Yamapi interrupts smoothly, "why do you want Ryo-chan to do these things to Kame?"
"Do these things to him?!" Jin asks. "You make it sound so--so..."
Ryo bursts into laughter, and Jin turns to glare accusingly at him.
"What things are you doing to Kame?"
Something wells up in Ryo and makes it impossible to answer, some combination of laughter and embarrassment and annoyance, and he stares at Jin, tight-lipped, until the waitress returns with Jin's receipt, giving him something new to complain about.
*
Wink Up Message Board, February 2009
Jin to Ryo
hey skinny monkey, heard you were more like a teddy bear
Yamapi to Jin
Akanishi, eat less and your bills will be cheaper.
Ryo to Jin
Better than being a pig.
Jin to Yamapi
You eat less, in America I lived on 10 dollars a day! You eat 10 dollars in a minute!
Ryo to Kamenashi
Please look after yourself. I can't do everything.
*
Kame calls him about the stupid Wink Up post. Ryo probably should have known he would, but he's still surprised. Surprised and sort of excited.
"What do you want?" he says.
"Even if you can't do everything, you could do something," Kame says, and it sort of sounds like he's laughing.
Ryo smiles in spite of himself. "Like what?"
There's a pause then, and Ryo feels weirdly victorious, like he managed to catch Kame off guard somehow.
"Why don't you come over again tonight?"
"Why do you rudely assume that I'm not already busy with something else?"
"Earlier this time, though. Make it 7:30, and you can make me dinner."
"How generous of you."
"See you then~!"
It's probably weird that Ryo is looking forward to this.
*
Ryo arrives at quarter past 8, his arms full of groceries, and Kame hardly speaks to him as he opens the door to let him in. Ryo feels practically bursting with an apology he can't manage to spit out.
"You're late," Kame says unnecessarily. "I'm hungry."
"Don't be such a baby," Ryo says, before he can stop himself.
Kame gives him a look, a sad, pathetic, puppy dog look, and Ryo instantly wishes he could take it back.
"I'll start dinner. Go sit on the couch or something."
"Will you put on a movie for me?" Kame asks sweetly.
Ryo grumbles as he sets the groceries on the counter and pretends to be as annoyed as possible the entire route from the kitchen to where Kame is lounging on the living room sofa.
"What movie?" he asks, glumly surveying Kame's collection of sappy romantic comedies, anime, and children's movies. Were it up to Ryo, he'd put on something like Silence of the Lambs.
"Something with Hugh Grant," Kame says, sighing a little as he sinks further back into the couch.
Ryo stares at him.
Kame smiles and stretches as if he doesn't notice, and his shirt slides up a little, exposing a line of his hipbone and lower stomach barely visible above his jeans. Ryo licks his lips nervously. "You'll have to be more specific," he says, nodding towards Kame's neatly alphabetized collection. "I don't exactly have his resume memorized."
"How about Love, Actually? It's nice this time of year."
Ryo sighs as he puts in the DVD and ambles back to the kitchen. Generally the only people he cooks for are Yamapi and himself, and Yamapi will eat anything that won't kill him. Ryo imagines that Kame will be much more particular.
*
He really should have gone with pizza or something, Ryo decides, as he carefully angles chopsticks full of noodles toward Kame's mouth.
Kame's all wide eyes and parted lips, though, and it's easy pushing food into his mouth; somehow satisfying to watch him take it, to feel the pressure of his tongue against the other end of the chopsticks.
"Mmm," Kame murmurs, and Ryo can fucking feel it, can feel Kame moaning in his fingertips. The vibration of Kame's tongue against the wood reverberates against his fingers, and he finds himself staring, pathetically holding the utensils uselessly against Kame's lips as he waits for his next mouthful.
Ryo shifts where he's kneeling on the floor, uncomfortably and unfortunately aroused, and it's with a shaky grip that he fumbles to collect another mouthful of udon.
"Nn... Nishikido-kun?" Kame says, in a soft small voice, and Ryo is grateful for the pause, for the chance to collect himself.
"Yeah?"
"I think I'm full," Kame says, ducking his head a little.
"Oh--" Ryo says, sort of relieved and ready to end the dinner portion of the night until he realizes how little is actually missing from the bowl. "But you haven't finished."
"Oh," Kame says, flushing a little as he meets Ryo's eyes, all pink-cheeked and wide-eyed and looking like a fucking china doll. "I was hoping we could skip to dessert."
A laugh bursts out of Ryo, half-nervous, half-earnest, but he chokes it down as he watches Kame's expression change. His eyes lock up, his cheeks pale, and suddenly it's just Kamenashi Kazuya again, practically a stranger. Ryo clears his throat.
"You have to eat some vegetables first," he says sternly.
Kame only stares at him, and Ryo starts to think that maybe the game is over, that this weird little illusion is busted... but then Kame parts his lips, slightly, just enough for Ryo to notice, and he knows that it's not.
Carefully, Ryo lifts a broccoli flower and presses it against Kame's tight little mouth. He takes it, after a pause--Ryo feels it push past Kame's little pouty lips, feels it pressing up against his tongue, and Ryo has to bite down on his lip to keep from making a noise, but he's still mumbling incoherently as he extracts his chopsticks from Kame's mouth.
"Mmmm," Kame moans, tongue swiping up a stray drop of sauce from his lower lip "god, that's good."
Ryo's staring again. He knows he is, like he knows when he's been checking out a girl too long, or thinking about sex during rehearsal too much, or something, but it doesn't make it easier to stop. It takes him a minute to realize that Kame's staring back.
"Nishikido-kun?" Kame says, in that ridiculously tentative voice of his. "Do I have to eat anymore? I'm really full.~"
The chopsticks slip from Ryo's fingers, and he shakes his head as they rattle and splash into the bowl.
"No," Ryo says softly, clearing his throat and trying to clear his mind. "No, it's okay."
Kame beams.
*
The movie is almost over, thankfully. Ryo feels like he's one airport scene away from a tearful reunion with tonight's dinner. Kame seems to be dozing, curled against him on the sofa, face buried in Ryo's neck, and Ryo suspects it is well past his bedtime.
"Nishikido-kun," Kame mumbles, all soft lips and hot breath against Ryo's neck. "It's late."
Ryo grumbles in agreement as he switches off the dvd. "Time to put you to bed."
He feels hot and weird and awkward saying it, but he forces the words out, hoping that Kame won't laugh or stare at him or something. Fuck, though, it still feels weird.
Kame curls his fingers against Ryo's arm, and Ryo can feel Kame's fingernails catching on his sweater. Kame whispers something against his neck, and whatever he says is drowned out in the feel of his lips against Ryo's skin, the heat and catch of his breath, and the way Ryo's entire body responds to the innocent, subtle gesture.
"What?" Ryo says gruffly, and Kame seems to stiffen against him. Ryo clears his throat, and then, more softly; "... what did you say?"
There's a pause, and Ryo's heart is hammering against his chest as he half-hopes, half-fears that Kame has fallen asleep or taken whatever it was back.
"Will you come with me?"
Ryo doesn't remember saying yes, but somehow he's leading Kame down the hallway now by the hand, fingers loosely linked, and he's wondering what they're going to do when they get there, if this is going to be like the other night, or if this is something else, something new.
*
"We never had dessert," Kame complains, as he tugs Ryo along towards his bed.
Ryo licks his lips nervously, stumbling along behind him and trying to make it look purposeful. He can't tell if Kame means real dessert or… Ryo clears his throat. "Do you want me to tuck you in?"
Kame shrugs, like some petulant child, but he climbs onto his bed just the same, kicking the sheets and blankets down and waiting expectantly for Ryo to pull them up around him.
Ryo does his best, taking fistfuls of cotton sheets and soft, down-filled comforters, but the way Kame's angled himself it's nearly impossible to pull them up without touching him, brushing his fingertips and bumping his knuckles against Kame's ankles, legs, hipbones and stomach, and Kame's sort of squirming by the time they're up around his chest.
"Nishikido-kun?" Kame asks, and he looks like a little doll again, face all flushed and hair somehow perfectly falling back against his pillow.
"What?" Ryo chokes out, feeling a little flushed himself. "Do you want a glass of milk or something too? A bedtime story?"
He's sort of teasing when he says it, but also half-serious. He can't imagine what Jin or Pi would say, if they saw him like this over Kame.
"Can you… stay?"
Ryo looks at him, and Kame stares back, expression even, neutral, not betraying anything about what he really wants.
"You want me to-"
"Stay," Kame says, and it's not really a question this time. He looks determined, but also a little terrified, like Ryo might laugh at him for this, might just laugh in his face and leave, and it makes Ryo feel horrible.
He climbs into the bed beside Kame without saying another word, and Kame curls against him like it's the most natural thing in the world, drapes an arm across his middle and slides a leg up against Ryo's until he's half straddling him, under the sheets. Ryo shifts until he's got an arm around Kame's shoulders, fingers tangling in his perfect hair, and they fall asleep like that, tangled up together in Kame's bed.
*
Ryo is agonizing over the latest Myojo shoot as Jin and Pi play some retarded cow racing game on Jin's Wii. He's pretending to be annoyed by Shige's hair, or how they've posed him with Massu in Massu's latest tacky outfit, but really he keeps flipping through the KAT-TUN shoot, wondering what Kame's secret little smile means, wondering if they photoshopped out the circles under his eyes or if he's really getting more sleep lately, with Ryo tucking him in.
"Ryo-chan~" Pi sing-songs, and Ryo looks up, hurriedly readying an insult about Tegoshi's leering at Yamapi in the latest shoot with potatoes.
"What?"
"How are things with Kame?"
Ryo glances at Jin, who is stiffly pretending to not have heard. It's awkward talking about Kame with Jin, somehow, though Jin will never admit that, and neither will Ryo. "Things?" Ryo says, shifting uncomfortably in his seat and scowling as he tosses down the magazine. "What things?"
Yamapi tilts his head along with the rest of his body as his cow swerves around a turn, knocking down a scarecrow. "Ehh? Aren't you two dating or something?"
Jin sits up a little straighter, and Yamapi's cow bursts past the finish line just as Jin's runs into a jump.
"Are you seriously racing cows?" Ryo asks.
"Yeah," Yamapi says, sitting back against Jin's couch with a happy sigh. "Jin sucks at it, ne."
Jin snorts and throws his Wii controller at Pi, bouncing it off of his shoulder and causing Pi to shrink back against the couch with a howl of agony, gripping his injured shoulder. "You're just a cheater!"
Ryo flips back open the magazine, glancing boredly up at the screen where Pi's character is performing a celebratory dance atop his cow. "How do you cheat in a cow race?"
"Well," Jin says, "I don't know, but I bet Pi rigged it somehow."
Yamapi sighs, stretching a little with a smile. "I bet Jin couldn't win against anyone."
"I bet Pi couldn't ride an actual cow."
"I bet Jin couldn't ride a mechanical cow."
Jin snorts and Ryo half smiles as he turns the page, waiting for the next bit of ridiculousness.
"I bet Pi couldn't work 'mechanical cow' into the lyrics of MOLA."
"I bet Jin doesn't realize that it's lunch time, ne," Yamapi says as he stands, stretching some more.
Ryo looks up, finds Jin staring glumly at Yamapi and fingering his wallet.
"Where are we going today?" Jin asks, sounding much too depressed to be talking about food.
Pi's already waiting by the door, shoes on and jacket ready. "Mmmm I feel like curry today! Let's make it good."
*
Wink Up Message Board, March 2009
Kamenashi to Ryo
Thank you for your support. :D
Jin to Yamapi
You can't always win everything! I'll beat you next time for sure!
Ryo to Jin
Stop chasing cows.
Yamapi to Jin
Stop being a sore loser, Akanishi. Study hard, work harder! ^^
Jin to Ryo
I don't chase them I race them! You weren't even paying attention!
Ryo to Kamenashi
Eat your vegetables.
Pairing/Group: Ryo/Kame, Ryo/Yamapi/Jin as friends
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Babying, Ridiculous betting?
Notes: Written for sadnlonleyme, for je_holiday. I had a lot of fun with this. Thank you to those of you (especially spurious) who read this for me and held my hand while I was writing it, and helped me fix it, all 5,200 words of it.
Summary: It all starts with a bet.
It's a Sunday afternoon, and it's the first time in weeks the three of them have been able to meet up. Ryo complains when they end up in his apartment, but no one believes that he's actually bothered. Everyone is too tired to really go anywhere. At the moment, Jin and Ryo are immersed in Mario Kart, and Yamapi is flipping through this month's Myojo, wincing at the way his perm looks, messy and fried and out of place on the shiny, neat pages.
"Hey," Ryo says suddenly, as his car whizzes past Jin, "I bet you can't go a day without getting off to a Leah Dizon magazine spread."
"Yeah?" Jin says smoothly, "I bet you can't go a day without getting off thinking about Pi's sister."
Yamapi sighs and turns the page of his magazine as Ryo's car careens off the tracks.
"Fuck off!" he says, a little shrilly. "I bet you can't spend an hour with Pi without getting in an argument."
Baby Peach, Ryo's character of choice, swerves back onto the track just in time to crash into Donkey Kong, Jin's character, spinning them both off course.
"I bet you can't go an hour with Kame without getting in an argument!" Jin says, trying desperately to extinguish the fire that's erupted from Donkey Kong's car.
"Dumb bet, Bakanishi, Kamenashi probably wouldn't argue with Ryo-chan," Yamapi says, idly turning the page of his magazine.
"Fine," Jin says sourly, shooting Yamapi a nasty look as Baby Peach crosses the finish line. "Spend an hour with Kame without insulting him."
"And…?" Ryo is already stretching, victorious, and smiling.
"And…" Jin pauses. "And I'll post to the WinkUp boards that you're better than me."
Ryo smiles even wider. "It's about time you admit that."
"And if you lose," Jin continues, as if Ryo never spoke, "you take Kame out and…"
Jin bursts into laughter as he watches Baby Peach doing a little victory lap. "-and you baby him," Jin finishes, chortling softly to himself.
"Baby him?" Ryo looks much less victorious now, and much more horrified.
"Yes, treat him like he's your little girl. Baby him."
"Fine," Ryo says. "Fine, whatever. Get ready to humiliate yourself, Akanishi."
*
Ryo can already tell he'll lose this bet.
"Nishikido-kun," Kame says carefully, regarding his menu as if he's never been here before. Ryo knows for a fact that he's been here-it's Kame's favorite restaurant. "I just don't understand why we're here…"
"Shut up and order," Ryo says.
Their eyes meet over the top of Kame's menu and Ryo has a horrible, sick, twisting feeling in his gut as he wonders if 'shut up' counts as an insult. It passes though-a moment later Kame is talking about Sea Bass and whether or not it's prepared with the right sauce, whether or not the chef will send it along with the right side dish tonight, whether or not the wine will match. It matches best with something that has a full, fruity flavor, Kame claims.
Ryo grunts, suppresses a comment about Kame being fruity, and swallows a gulp of water noisily.
They're well into dessert, actually, before Ryo makes his fatal mistake.
"So," he says, staring boredly at the failed chocolate mousse Kame seems to be enjoying. "Doing any new dramas?"
Kame's entire demeanor brightens. "Actually," he says enthusiastically, "next month I start a drama about a door-to-door salesperson with ESP who starts using his powers to save people from poor purchasing decisions!"
Ryo stares.
Kame stares back.
It takes about thirty seconds, one awkward smile and a throwaway comment about ESP for Ryo to realize Kame isn't joking.
"Is this what happens in acting hell?" Ryo spits out, "Your career goes from just dead to a lurching zombie?"
The color drains out of Kame's face and his lips go impossibly thin, like some gross stick figure drawing of a blank face, and then he's standing, shoving away from the table and leaving. Ryo is left with the bill, and a horrible sensation that he's just lost a bet to Jin.
*
Ryo's phone rings at 8 the next morning. He's in a car, on his way to a NEWS costume fitting, and Jin's voice is surprisingly alert for the early hour.
"So I talked to Kame," Jin says, instead of hello. "I heard about your little date last night."
Jin sounds angrily victorious, and it's strange and disconcerting. Ryo yawns. "What do you want?"
"When are you taking him out again," Jin says, "to make up for last night?"
Ryo sloshes coffee down the front of his shirt and curses angrily, trying to mop up the hot mess as Jin laughs against his ear. Ryo hangs up.
Jin calls back three more times, leaves Ryo two voicemails and sends him three text messages. They're progressively more idiotic.
"I'm making you reservations again, tonight. In Pi's name. If you don't show up he'll look bad. Kame likes roses."
"Pick up you stupid little monkey!"
"asshole"
"kame's drama will b so much better than y"
"ours you skinny monkey"
Ryo turns off his phone and hopes for the best.
*
There's a car waiting at Ryo's apartment when he gets back from a photo shoot that night.
He's annoyed because he had to buy a new shirt on his lunch break today, and it's stiff and itchy with dye, and he's tired from smiling stupidly at the camera for two hours, and he wants nothing more than a cigarette, a beer, and a good movie he can fall asleep on the couch watching.
"Nishikido-san," the driver says with a bow, as Ryo climbs out of the backseat of his car. "I'm sorry but we'll have to hurry. Akanishi-san made the reservation at 8 and it's now 8:15…"
Ryo stares grumpily at the driver and considers telling him where Akanishi can stick his reservation. Instead he sighs, climbs into the back of the new car, and sinks back against the leather. He spends the entirety of the ten minute ride to the restaurant thinking about how he can get Jin back for this.
*
Kame looks pissy, even from a few yards away. He's slouched against the building, cigarette dangling between his skinny little feminine fingers, scowling as a stray lock of hair dances across his cheek. He's dressed nicely, though, Ryo will give him that.
"Hi," Ryo says, as he reaches him. Kame doesn't answer, just exhales. A little tendril of smoke winds its way around Ryo's face. Ryo wrinkles his nose and narrows his eyes against it, and he sees the corners of Kame's mouth tug up into an almost-smile.
"Look, it's not my fault that your boyfriend didn't bother to tell me when this reservation was going to be, and I had to work so it's not like I could have gotten here any earlier anyway and-"
Kame puts out his cigarette and purses his lips and Ryo feels like a stupid jackass for trying to explain himself. Whatever, he decides, Kame doesn't deserve an explanation when Ryo doesn't even want to be here.
"We should go in before they give our table away," Kame says quietly.
Ryo nods, but Kame makes no move towards the door. "What are you waiting for then?"
Kame quirks an eyebrow. "Well, aren't you going to open it for me?"
Ryo clenches his jaw, thinks nastily that Jin's making him do this because he's getting too fat to take Kame out himself. "Oh right," he says, as he steps towards the door. "Ladies first."
Kame walks past him and through the open door without comment, and they're situated at a private little table in the back of the restaurant within minutes.
"So," Kame says, watching Ryo over the top of his menu.
Ryo grunts noncommittally in response and fights back a yawn as he tries to decide what he can stomach here.
Kame clears his throat. "Jin said you would be ordering for me…?"
Ryo looks up in surprise. "Ordering… for you?"
Kame sets down his menu and twists his lips in confusion. "Well you're supposed to be making things up to me for the other night, right? And he said you wanted to order for me and-" Kame is looking steadily more horrified, his face pale and his eyes wide. "What's actually going on?"
Ryo opens his mouth and closes it again, and then it dawns on him-Jin didn't tell Kame about the bet.
Suddenly Ryo knows the perfect way to get back at Jin.
*
"You told him?" Yamapi says, tearing his attention away from Mario Kart to look at Ryo, shocked and scandalized. "You actually told him?"
Ryo shrugs. "Well," he says slowly, "not about the babying part, I mean… I feel like I sort of held up my end of the bet by enduring another dinner with him anyway."
Yamapi shakes his head, his focus back on the game. "Ah, Ryo-chan, I don't know… Kame will be pretty mad, ne?"
Yamapi's door bursts open then, and Jin comes tripping through, kicking off his shoes as he lurches towards them. "YOU!" Jin says.
Ryo laughs. Yamapi continues playing as if Jin isn't even there. Jin stumbles forward, sights set on Ryo.
"I can't believe you told him!!!"
"I can't believe you didn't," Ryo says dryly, as Jin meets his match in Yamapi's footrest and goes tumbling headfirst towards the floor. Ryo turns his attention back to the game. "Was he mad?"
Jin doesn't reply immediately, just lies on the floor behind Yamapi and Ryo, breathing heavily. Ryo is trying his hardest to pretend he has forgotten that Jin's there at all.
"Well," Jin says finally. "He was until I told him what you're going to do for him."
Mario, Yamapi's character, sails past Yoshi, Ryo's character, towards the finish as Yoshi's car spins out and careens off the track. Ryo turns to glare at Jin as Yamapi rises from the couch and steps easily over Jin to make a victorious sandwich.
"What exactly am I supposed to do?"
Jin smiles.
*
Kame looks annoyed and exhausted when he answers the door.
"What are you doing here?" he says, and Ryo has to bite down on his lower lip to keep from insulting him immediately.
"Here," he says, thrusting a bouquet towards Kame. They're nice flowers-Ryo likes to think he has good taste when it comes to these things, and they're the exact opposite of something Jin would have picked out-classy, understated, expensive.
Kame sort of smiles as he takes them, though his expression is still a little guarded. "Do you want to come in?"
Ryo shrugs but does, quietly stepping past Kame and glancing around the place as he takes off his shoes. Kame brushes past him, bouquet in hand.
"Just going to go put these in some water," he says.
"Un," Ryo says noncommittally, examining Kame's ridiculously clean, organized apartment. He makes himself comfortable on a soft white leather sofa and tries to figure out how to proceed.
"So," Kame says as he returns, sliding onto the couch next to Ryo, "you never did say why it is that you're here."
He's got a weirdly triumphant expression, like he thinks he does know why Ryo's here, that it's to apologize, and he's trying to force Ryo to say it. Ryo watches him for a moment, clears his throat, and jumps into action.
"Kamenashi," he murmurs, scooting closer to Kame on the sofa. Kame's eyes widen a little in alarm and Ryo raises a hand to brush away a lock of Kame's hair. "I'm here to take care of you."
Kame stares.
Ryo bites back a nervous laugh and lets his fingers drop, grazing Kame's cheek. "Tell me what I can do for you."
"Um," Kame says, gaze darting nervously around his apartment as if he'll find a hidden camera crew somewhere, filming this horrible joke on him. "What?"
Ryo continues gently stroking his cheek. "It's late… should I… tuck you in? Read you a little bedtime story?"
"Nishikido-kun-"
"Ryo," Ryo says softly, sliding a little bit closer, "call me Ryo."
Kame swallows and Ryo can feel the movement of his throat against his fingertips. He sort of enjoys that, and that sort of unsettles him.
"R-Ryo," Kame stutters, "I'm not sure what's going on here, but… I mean… Is this… Did Jin put you up to this?"
"Jin?" Ryo asks, trying his best to sound innocent when suddenly all he can think about is how weirdly soft and warm Kame's skin feels, how much his hair reminds him of a girl's, all sweet-smelling and silky-soft. "What about Jin?"
"I just-" Kame's voice drops a little. "I don't know why you're doing this."
Something wrenches in Ryo's chest, some awful feeling of guilt and pity and he feels like maybe this has gone too far, but at the same time… he is enjoying this, somehow. He tries not to think about how guilty he feels, and after a moment he scoops Kame up in his arms, in what he thinks is a tender and romantic move, only Kame is squirming against him, like he's being kidnapped or something.
"Hey," Ryo says softly, as Kame claws at his chest with sharp little fingers, "I'm just taking you to bed."
Kame's breath hitches.
"I... fine," Kame says, and then he slides hesitant arms around Ryo's neck to keep from falling. Ryo carries him carefully down the hallway towards what he assumes is Kame's room.
He leaves once Kame is tucked under the covers, half-smiling in bewildered, curious confusion.
*
It's 2 AM, Yamapi's door is unlocked, and Ryo lets himself in.
"Pi," he murmurs as he crawls onto his bed. "Pi, wake up."
"Mmmfh," Yamapi murmurs, stirring slightly in his sleep. He rolls over, away from Ryo.
"Yamapi," Ryo says, louder. "Wake up."
Yamapi makes a loud, disgruntled noise and stretches, nearly knocking Ryo in the face with his elbow in the process. "Sleeping," he grunts.
"Yes," Ryo says, "I noticed that. Did you catch the part where I said to wake up?"
Yamapi rolls towards him, cracks an eye open and groans a little. "How did you get in?"
"I just came from Kame's apartment," Ryo blurts out. "I… tucked him in."
There's a long silence.
"Yamapi," Ryo says, worried he's fallen back asleep.
Yamapi sighs and raises a hand to his forehead as if he's in a moderate amount of pain. "Ryo-chan, what are you talking about?"
"I was trying to do Jin's stupid bet," Ryo says, annoyed that he even has to explain. "And it was… I don't know, I wanted to… I don't know, stay there."
Pi yawns, stretches, and rolls away from Ryo. "Maybe you should have, ne."
Ryo's just about to feel hurt when Yamapi continues, mumbling against his pillow so that it's nearly incoherent.
"Sleep is important, Ryo-chan... should sleep too ne... should all sleep.... sleep."
Yamapi is already doing just that. Ryo decides that he's worthless, and leaves him just as he found him.
*
It's Yamapi's third serving of udon that makes Ryo realize something is up.
Generally, at two servings, Ryo calls Pi a pig and Yamapi makes up some excuse about needing it for health, ne, or because he read some article about noodles being good for creativity or some other sort of bullshit science. But three servings is pretty disgusting, even for Pi, even on a super noodle health kick.
Jin looks just as bothered as Ryo, though, and this is something else new. Usually he's an eager participant in the gluttony. Ryo asks the obvious question.
"Have you grown another stomach?"
Yamapi sort of grunts but continues eating. Jin stares forlornly at Yamapi as he consumes the entire bowl.
"We made this bet..." Jin says.
"Did you bet him that he couldn't consume the entire lunch hour menu? Because I think you might lose this one."
Jin sighs. "I bet him that he wouldn't change some of Mola's lines for the album recording."
Ryo raises an eyebrow. "Change them to...?"
Yamapi finishes his third bowl and slouches back against the booth with a satisfied moan. Jin stares sadly at the empty bowl.
"You know, things like... 'make you come' instead of 'make you numb'..."
"He's buying my meals for a month," Yamapi says, beaming across the table at Ryo.
"Christ," Ryo says, laughing, "you're going to be broke."
"Hey," Jin says, as the waitress takes his credit card, "how are things going with Kame?"
"Uh..." Ryo says, feeling inexplicably flushed and strangely unable to look at Yamapi. He can feel Pi looking at him, watching him, and it occurs to him that maybe he wasn't as asleep as he'd pretended to be the other night. "Going? As in... still going? I thought I was done."
Jin rolls his eyes. "You still have to make up for the dinner, you know! You can't go back on your bet."
"But I--"
It's at this point that Ryo realizes Kame never told Jin about Ryo's late night visit, and he wonders why. He's curious enough to want to keep it a secret himself, but also annoyed that Jin still thinks he's obligated to do something.
"Akanishi," Yamapi interrupts smoothly, "why do you want Ryo-chan to do these things to Kame?"
"Do these things to him?!" Jin asks. "You make it sound so--so..."
Ryo bursts into laughter, and Jin turns to glare accusingly at him.
"What things are you doing to Kame?"
Something wells up in Ryo and makes it impossible to answer, some combination of laughter and embarrassment and annoyance, and he stares at Jin, tight-lipped, until the waitress returns with Jin's receipt, giving him something new to complain about.
*
Wink Up Message Board, February 2009
Jin to Ryo
hey skinny monkey, heard you were more like a teddy bear
Yamapi to Jin
Akanishi, eat less and your bills will be cheaper.
Ryo to Jin
Better than being a pig.
Jin to Yamapi
You eat less, in America I lived on 10 dollars a day! You eat 10 dollars in a minute!
Ryo to Kamenashi
Please look after yourself. I can't do everything.
*
Kame calls him about the stupid Wink Up post. Ryo probably should have known he would, but he's still surprised. Surprised and sort of excited.
"What do you want?" he says.
"Even if you can't do everything, you could do something," Kame says, and it sort of sounds like he's laughing.
Ryo smiles in spite of himself. "Like what?"
There's a pause then, and Ryo feels weirdly victorious, like he managed to catch Kame off guard somehow.
"Why don't you come over again tonight?"
"Why do you rudely assume that I'm not already busy with something else?"
"Earlier this time, though. Make it 7:30, and you can make me dinner."
"How generous of you."
"See you then~!"
It's probably weird that Ryo is looking forward to this.
*
Ryo arrives at quarter past 8, his arms full of groceries, and Kame hardly speaks to him as he opens the door to let him in. Ryo feels practically bursting with an apology he can't manage to spit out.
"You're late," Kame says unnecessarily. "I'm hungry."
"Don't be such a baby," Ryo says, before he can stop himself.
Kame gives him a look, a sad, pathetic, puppy dog look, and Ryo instantly wishes he could take it back.
"I'll start dinner. Go sit on the couch or something."
"Will you put on a movie for me?" Kame asks sweetly.
Ryo grumbles as he sets the groceries on the counter and pretends to be as annoyed as possible the entire route from the kitchen to where Kame is lounging on the living room sofa.
"What movie?" he asks, glumly surveying Kame's collection of sappy romantic comedies, anime, and children's movies. Were it up to Ryo, he'd put on something like Silence of the Lambs.
"Something with Hugh Grant," Kame says, sighing a little as he sinks further back into the couch.
Ryo stares at him.
Kame smiles and stretches as if he doesn't notice, and his shirt slides up a little, exposing a line of his hipbone and lower stomach barely visible above his jeans. Ryo licks his lips nervously. "You'll have to be more specific," he says, nodding towards Kame's neatly alphabetized collection. "I don't exactly have his resume memorized."
"How about Love, Actually? It's nice this time of year."
Ryo sighs as he puts in the DVD and ambles back to the kitchen. Generally the only people he cooks for are Yamapi and himself, and Yamapi will eat anything that won't kill him. Ryo imagines that Kame will be much more particular.
*
He really should have gone with pizza or something, Ryo decides, as he carefully angles chopsticks full of noodles toward Kame's mouth.
Kame's all wide eyes and parted lips, though, and it's easy pushing food into his mouth; somehow satisfying to watch him take it, to feel the pressure of his tongue against the other end of the chopsticks.
"Mmm," Kame murmurs, and Ryo can fucking feel it, can feel Kame moaning in his fingertips. The vibration of Kame's tongue against the wood reverberates against his fingers, and he finds himself staring, pathetically holding the utensils uselessly against Kame's lips as he waits for his next mouthful.
Ryo shifts where he's kneeling on the floor, uncomfortably and unfortunately aroused, and it's with a shaky grip that he fumbles to collect another mouthful of udon.
"Nn... Nishikido-kun?" Kame says, in a soft small voice, and Ryo is grateful for the pause, for the chance to collect himself.
"Yeah?"
"I think I'm full," Kame says, ducking his head a little.
"Oh--" Ryo says, sort of relieved and ready to end the dinner portion of the night until he realizes how little is actually missing from the bowl. "But you haven't finished."
"Oh," Kame says, flushing a little as he meets Ryo's eyes, all pink-cheeked and wide-eyed and looking like a fucking china doll. "I was hoping we could skip to dessert."
A laugh bursts out of Ryo, half-nervous, half-earnest, but he chokes it down as he watches Kame's expression change. His eyes lock up, his cheeks pale, and suddenly it's just Kamenashi Kazuya again, practically a stranger. Ryo clears his throat.
"You have to eat some vegetables first," he says sternly.
Kame only stares at him, and Ryo starts to think that maybe the game is over, that this weird little illusion is busted... but then Kame parts his lips, slightly, just enough for Ryo to notice, and he knows that it's not.
Carefully, Ryo lifts a broccoli flower and presses it against Kame's tight little mouth. He takes it, after a pause--Ryo feels it push past Kame's little pouty lips, feels it pressing up against his tongue, and Ryo has to bite down on his lip to keep from making a noise, but he's still mumbling incoherently as he extracts his chopsticks from Kame's mouth.
"Mmmm," Kame moans, tongue swiping up a stray drop of sauce from his lower lip "god, that's good."
Ryo's staring again. He knows he is, like he knows when he's been checking out a girl too long, or thinking about sex during rehearsal too much, or something, but it doesn't make it easier to stop. It takes him a minute to realize that Kame's staring back.
"Nishikido-kun?" Kame says, in that ridiculously tentative voice of his. "Do I have to eat anymore? I'm really full.~"
The chopsticks slip from Ryo's fingers, and he shakes his head as they rattle and splash into the bowl.
"No," Ryo says softly, clearing his throat and trying to clear his mind. "No, it's okay."
Kame beams.
*
The movie is almost over, thankfully. Ryo feels like he's one airport scene away from a tearful reunion with tonight's dinner. Kame seems to be dozing, curled against him on the sofa, face buried in Ryo's neck, and Ryo suspects it is well past his bedtime.
"Nishikido-kun," Kame mumbles, all soft lips and hot breath against Ryo's neck. "It's late."
Ryo grumbles in agreement as he switches off the dvd. "Time to put you to bed."
He feels hot and weird and awkward saying it, but he forces the words out, hoping that Kame won't laugh or stare at him or something. Fuck, though, it still feels weird.
Kame curls his fingers against Ryo's arm, and Ryo can feel Kame's fingernails catching on his sweater. Kame whispers something against his neck, and whatever he says is drowned out in the feel of his lips against Ryo's skin, the heat and catch of his breath, and the way Ryo's entire body responds to the innocent, subtle gesture.
"What?" Ryo says gruffly, and Kame seems to stiffen against him. Ryo clears his throat, and then, more softly; "... what did you say?"
There's a pause, and Ryo's heart is hammering against his chest as he half-hopes, half-fears that Kame has fallen asleep or taken whatever it was back.
"Will you come with me?"
Ryo doesn't remember saying yes, but somehow he's leading Kame down the hallway now by the hand, fingers loosely linked, and he's wondering what they're going to do when they get there, if this is going to be like the other night, or if this is something else, something new.
*
"We never had dessert," Kame complains, as he tugs Ryo along towards his bed.
Ryo licks his lips nervously, stumbling along behind him and trying to make it look purposeful. He can't tell if Kame means real dessert or… Ryo clears his throat. "Do you want me to tuck you in?"
Kame shrugs, like some petulant child, but he climbs onto his bed just the same, kicking the sheets and blankets down and waiting expectantly for Ryo to pull them up around him.
Ryo does his best, taking fistfuls of cotton sheets and soft, down-filled comforters, but the way Kame's angled himself it's nearly impossible to pull them up without touching him, brushing his fingertips and bumping his knuckles against Kame's ankles, legs, hipbones and stomach, and Kame's sort of squirming by the time they're up around his chest.
"Nishikido-kun?" Kame asks, and he looks like a little doll again, face all flushed and hair somehow perfectly falling back against his pillow.
"What?" Ryo chokes out, feeling a little flushed himself. "Do you want a glass of milk or something too? A bedtime story?"
He's sort of teasing when he says it, but also half-serious. He can't imagine what Jin or Pi would say, if they saw him like this over Kame.
"Can you… stay?"
Ryo looks at him, and Kame stares back, expression even, neutral, not betraying anything about what he really wants.
"You want me to-"
"Stay," Kame says, and it's not really a question this time. He looks determined, but also a little terrified, like Ryo might laugh at him for this, might just laugh in his face and leave, and it makes Ryo feel horrible.
He climbs into the bed beside Kame without saying another word, and Kame curls against him like it's the most natural thing in the world, drapes an arm across his middle and slides a leg up against Ryo's until he's half straddling him, under the sheets. Ryo shifts until he's got an arm around Kame's shoulders, fingers tangling in his perfect hair, and they fall asleep like that, tangled up together in Kame's bed.
*
Ryo is agonizing over the latest Myojo shoot as Jin and Pi play some retarded cow racing game on Jin's Wii. He's pretending to be annoyed by Shige's hair, or how they've posed him with Massu in Massu's latest tacky outfit, but really he keeps flipping through the KAT-TUN shoot, wondering what Kame's secret little smile means, wondering if they photoshopped out the circles under his eyes or if he's really getting more sleep lately, with Ryo tucking him in.
"Ryo-chan~" Pi sing-songs, and Ryo looks up, hurriedly readying an insult about Tegoshi's leering at Yamapi in the latest shoot with potatoes.
"What?"
"How are things with Kame?"
Ryo glances at Jin, who is stiffly pretending to not have heard. It's awkward talking about Kame with Jin, somehow, though Jin will never admit that, and neither will Ryo. "Things?" Ryo says, shifting uncomfortably in his seat and scowling as he tosses down the magazine. "What things?"
Yamapi tilts his head along with the rest of his body as his cow swerves around a turn, knocking down a scarecrow. "Ehh? Aren't you two dating or something?"
Jin sits up a little straighter, and Yamapi's cow bursts past the finish line just as Jin's runs into a jump.
"Are you seriously racing cows?" Ryo asks.
"Yeah," Yamapi says, sitting back against Jin's couch with a happy sigh. "Jin sucks at it, ne."
Jin snorts and throws his Wii controller at Pi, bouncing it off of his shoulder and causing Pi to shrink back against the couch with a howl of agony, gripping his injured shoulder. "You're just a cheater!"
Ryo flips back open the magazine, glancing boredly up at the screen where Pi's character is performing a celebratory dance atop his cow. "How do you cheat in a cow race?"
"Well," Jin says, "I don't know, but I bet Pi rigged it somehow."
Yamapi sighs, stretching a little with a smile. "I bet Jin couldn't win against anyone."
"I bet Pi couldn't ride an actual cow."
"I bet Jin couldn't ride a mechanical cow."
Jin snorts and Ryo half smiles as he turns the page, waiting for the next bit of ridiculousness.
"I bet Pi couldn't work 'mechanical cow' into the lyrics of MOLA."
"I bet Jin doesn't realize that it's lunch time, ne," Yamapi says as he stands, stretching some more.
Ryo looks up, finds Jin staring glumly at Yamapi and fingering his wallet.
"Where are we going today?" Jin asks, sounding much too depressed to be talking about food.
Pi's already waiting by the door, shoes on and jacket ready. "Mmmm I feel like curry today! Let's make it good."
*
Wink Up Message Board, March 2009
Kamenashi to Ryo
Thank you for your support. :D
Jin to Yamapi
You can't always win everything! I'll beat you next time for sure!
Ryo to Jin
Stop chasing cows.
Yamapi to Jin
Stop being a sore loser, Akanishi. Study hard, work harder! ^^
Jin to Ryo
I don't chase them I race them! You weren't even paying attention!
Ryo to Kamenashi
Eat your vegetables.