(no subject)
Title: Shaping clay
Characters: Chitose and Tachibana and Chitose's papa
Rating: PG, UF for Unmitigated Fluff
Disclaimer: I don't own PoT
A/N: for Vinny.
Pottery was sacred to Chitose-san. It was up there next to morning yoga and gardening, even more important than organic manure. It made some sense, Chitose reflected, that his father should find dirt a little holier than shit.
Chitose failed at making pots, however. "Hey, I uh, brought home another tennis trophy," Chitose would say when he was a little kid.
"Ah," his father replied vaguely, and then they'd put it on one of the lower shelves, giving pride of place to his sister's ill-formed clay pot. This remained one of Chitose's most annoying memories, and it always made him feel less than adequate in front of the potter's wheel, no matter how accomplished he became at tennis.
It figured that Tachibana was a natural.
"Cup it softly in your palm," Chitose-san was muttering that afternoon, arms around Tachibana to guide his hands. They spun, and Chitose watched as Tachibana concentrated all of his attention upon the pot, building it slowly from clay to form. Chitose-san stepped away after a moment, allowing Tachibana to work on his own.
Then Tachibana stopped and looked up with a smile on his face, Chitose-san beamed down at the small but perfectly-shaped pot. "Nice job."
Chitose felt the oddest surge of jealousy. Not only was his father totally molesting Tachibana, he was encouraging him too. This turn of events seriously threatened to upset Chitose's chi. His father should've understood that not only were Chitose and Tachibana best friends, they were sworn life-long rivals too.
"Let me try," Chitose said, after Tachibana finished scraping the leftover clay off the wheel. Chitose-san's face immediately darkened.
"Son," Chitose-san said, "Remember what happened last time I let you on the wheel?"
"Well. I remember that there was a loud noise in the distance. I thought maybe it was someone shooting at our dog. So I stood to turn and --"
"You broke the wheel," Chitose-san sighed.
Tachibana stayed silent, biting his lip, but Chitose could tell that he was about a second away from rolling around with laughter.
Chitose hung his head.
"I guess I can let you on the wheel as long as Pei-chan watches over you."
"Of course," Chitose said stiffly, and glared at Tachibana as he covered his mouth and pretended to cough.
Chitose-san took Tachibana's pot and carried it off toward the kiln, and Chitose sat at the wheel. He dipped his hands in water, and then took a chunk of fine-quality dirt out of a bucket. Then he stuck it in the middle of the wheel and frowned. He never did get this part. How did the lump become something graceful?
"So turn the wheel," Tachibana said, lounging against the wall with a piece of grass sticking out of his teeth. He was all long legs and skinniness, but somehow Tachibana had attained a grace that Chitose's body had yet to achieve. Damn him for being perfect.
"I'm turning, I'm turning," Chitose grumbled, and pumped his foot. The wheel began to spin, and gingerly he stuck his hands on the lump of clay. A second later his mind was sideways, thinking about how the clay looked just like Tanaka-sensei's hair, and wondering what would happen if he drew a little doodle of it, and then...
Thwap! To the back of Chitose's head.
"Hey!" Chitose stopped spinning the wheel, turning to frown at Tachibana behind him.
"You were totally spacing out, Senri. You're supposed to focus on the clay, turn it into something. I thought you were all into that kind of shit."
"I get tense around clay," Chitose said, sighing.
"Let me help."
"Thank you, sensei. Don't know what I'd do without your kindly aid," Chitose grumbled, and then wrinkled his brow just a little as he felt Tachibana's body settling behind him, arms wrapping around him, chest pressing close to his back.
It was totally gay. It felt kinda nice, too. It felt kinda nice that it was gay, and then suddenly the back of his head felt the impact of a hand.
"What the hell, Senri. Respect the goddamned clay!"
"Oh, right," Chitose muttered, face turning red. He hid his face under a sweep of hair and concentrated, and suddenly felt Tachibana's hands closing over his to form them more closely around the clay.
"You're not bad at this," Chitose said, looking down as Tachibana held his hands and embraced his back and made a pot for him. Chitose made an involuntary noise and couldn't help settling back just a little, pretending it was to stretch his legs. Mmmmm...
"You're not thinking about the clay again," Tachibana murmured into Chitose's ear, and the warm air sank through his body like a small fire.
"No, I'm really not," Chitose groaned, and his hands twitched, sending the carefully formed tube sideways so that it looked a little like a seriously damaged tree. He braced for the thwap, and then, to his lasting astonishment, felt something else instead. "K-Kippei?"
"Shhh." Soft lips, nuzzling into his hair, finding the part right beneath his ear.
"Very gay, Kippei," Chitose said, breath coming swiftly and no doubt audibly. Tachibana's foot paused the wheel, and his clay covered fingertips slid up Chitose's wrist in a slimy caress.
"Yeah." The mouth against his skin didn't pause, becoming something more like a kiss.
"So aaahhh...are you gay too?"
Kippei's laughter brought Chitose's father back.
"Oh boy." Chitose-san stared down at the poor sad tree. "Well, at least Sen-chin didn't break the wheel again."
They both jumped away from each other.
"I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" Chitose-san said dryly, and then blinked, narrowing his eyes to peer at them both through his glasses. "Oh. I ... perhaps I did."
Chitose didn't say anything but really wished the clay could swallow him up.
Then, Tachibana eased back into position behind him, his body warm and supportive and comforting and not going anywhere.
"Yeah," Tachibana said in his fearless voice. "Sorry. You did."
Just then, clay oozing through Chitose's fingers and face beet-red with embarrassment, Chitose knew that he'd fallen a little in love.
Characters: Chitose and Tachibana and Chitose's papa
Rating: PG, UF for Unmitigated Fluff
Disclaimer: I don't own PoT
A/N: for Vinny.
Pottery was sacred to Chitose-san. It was up there next to morning yoga and gardening, even more important than organic manure. It made some sense, Chitose reflected, that his father should find dirt a little holier than shit.
Chitose failed at making pots, however. "Hey, I uh, brought home another tennis trophy," Chitose would say when he was a little kid.
"Ah," his father replied vaguely, and then they'd put it on one of the lower shelves, giving pride of place to his sister's ill-formed clay pot. This remained one of Chitose's most annoying memories, and it always made him feel less than adequate in front of the potter's wheel, no matter how accomplished he became at tennis.
It figured that Tachibana was a natural.
"Cup it softly in your palm," Chitose-san was muttering that afternoon, arms around Tachibana to guide his hands. They spun, and Chitose watched as Tachibana concentrated all of his attention upon the pot, building it slowly from clay to form. Chitose-san stepped away after a moment, allowing Tachibana to work on his own.
Then Tachibana stopped and looked up with a smile on his face, Chitose-san beamed down at the small but perfectly-shaped pot. "Nice job."
Chitose felt the oddest surge of jealousy. Not only was his father totally molesting Tachibana, he was encouraging him too. This turn of events seriously threatened to upset Chitose's chi. His father should've understood that not only were Chitose and Tachibana best friends, they were sworn life-long rivals too.
"Let me try," Chitose said, after Tachibana finished scraping the leftover clay off the wheel. Chitose-san's face immediately darkened.
"Son," Chitose-san said, "Remember what happened last time I let you on the wheel?"
"Well. I remember that there was a loud noise in the distance. I thought maybe it was someone shooting at our dog. So I stood to turn and --"
"You broke the wheel," Chitose-san sighed.
Tachibana stayed silent, biting his lip, but Chitose could tell that he was about a second away from rolling around with laughter.
Chitose hung his head.
"I guess I can let you on the wheel as long as Pei-chan watches over you."
"Of course," Chitose said stiffly, and glared at Tachibana as he covered his mouth and pretended to cough.
Chitose-san took Tachibana's pot and carried it off toward the kiln, and Chitose sat at the wheel. He dipped his hands in water, and then took a chunk of fine-quality dirt out of a bucket. Then he stuck it in the middle of the wheel and frowned. He never did get this part. How did the lump become something graceful?
"So turn the wheel," Tachibana said, lounging against the wall with a piece of grass sticking out of his teeth. He was all long legs and skinniness, but somehow Tachibana had attained a grace that Chitose's body had yet to achieve. Damn him for being perfect.
"I'm turning, I'm turning," Chitose grumbled, and pumped his foot. The wheel began to spin, and gingerly he stuck his hands on the lump of clay. A second later his mind was sideways, thinking about how the clay looked just like Tanaka-sensei's hair, and wondering what would happen if he drew a little doodle of it, and then...
Thwap! To the back of Chitose's head.
"Hey!" Chitose stopped spinning the wheel, turning to frown at Tachibana behind him.
"You were totally spacing out, Senri. You're supposed to focus on the clay, turn it into something. I thought you were all into that kind of shit."
"I get tense around clay," Chitose said, sighing.
"Let me help."
"Thank you, sensei. Don't know what I'd do without your kindly aid," Chitose grumbled, and then wrinkled his brow just a little as he felt Tachibana's body settling behind him, arms wrapping around him, chest pressing close to his back.
It was totally gay. It felt kinda nice, too. It felt kinda nice that it was gay, and then suddenly the back of his head felt the impact of a hand.
"What the hell, Senri. Respect the goddamned clay!"
"Oh, right," Chitose muttered, face turning red. He hid his face under a sweep of hair and concentrated, and suddenly felt Tachibana's hands closing over his to form them more closely around the clay.
"You're not bad at this," Chitose said, looking down as Tachibana held his hands and embraced his back and made a pot for him. Chitose made an involuntary noise and couldn't help settling back just a little, pretending it was to stretch his legs. Mmmmm...
"You're not thinking about the clay again," Tachibana murmured into Chitose's ear, and the warm air sank through his body like a small fire.
"No, I'm really not," Chitose groaned, and his hands twitched, sending the carefully formed tube sideways so that it looked a little like a seriously damaged tree. He braced for the thwap, and then, to his lasting astonishment, felt something else instead. "K-Kippei?"
"Shhh." Soft lips, nuzzling into his hair, finding the part right beneath his ear.
"Very gay, Kippei," Chitose said, breath coming swiftly and no doubt audibly. Tachibana's foot paused the wheel, and his clay covered fingertips slid up Chitose's wrist in a slimy caress.
"Yeah." The mouth against his skin didn't pause, becoming something more like a kiss.
"So aaahhh...are you gay too?"
Kippei's laughter brought Chitose's father back.
"Oh boy." Chitose-san stared down at the poor sad tree. "Well, at least Sen-chin didn't break the wheel again."
They both jumped away from each other.
"I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" Chitose-san said dryly, and then blinked, narrowing his eyes to peer at them both through his glasses. "Oh. I ... perhaps I did."
Chitose didn't say anything but really wished the clay could swallow him up.
Then, Tachibana eased back into position behind him, his body warm and supportive and comforting and not going anywhere.
"Yeah," Tachibana said in his fearless voice. "Sorry. You did."
Just then, clay oozing through Chitose's fingers and face beet-red with embarrassment, Chitose knew that he'd fallen a little in love.