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Title: The Great Bathroom Mirror Escapades, Vol. 3
In Which Raidou Gets A Talking-To About His Sexuality, and Genma is Quite Put Out
Authors: MessyPeaches and JBMcDragon
Status: Complete, much to be posted.
Rating: Er. There's one chapter that's like, hard R/soft NC-17. R overall for language.
Summary: Following in the footsteps of Volume 1 and Volume 2, shit happens. Momo and JB laugh.
Volume 3, Chapter 1
Vol 3, Chapter 2
Vol 3, Chapter 3
Vol 3, Chapter 4
Vol 3, Chapter 5
Vol 3, Chapter 6
Vol 3, Chapter 7
Vol 3, Chapter 8
JB and Momo
Note: There may be a slight delay getting the next--and last--chapter out. Probably Thursday, rather than tomorrow.
Also, another hint about that last story we referenced: Momo wrote it when there were other writers around. And it's on LJ. I PROMISE. :D
JB
Chapter Nine
Raidou really wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now. He'd done like Amiri said, gave Genma a few days alone (and sent Iruka to check on him. And then Asuma. But he didn't go himself, and that was the important part) and thought.
And thought.
And come to the conclusion that, if Genma were a woman, he'd have decided the man was at least in *crush* with him years ago.
He just didn't know what to do now. So he went back to Kakashi's.
"My mirror is not your personal therapist," Kakashi said blandly, blocking the doorway.
"Just tell them I need to talk to Amiri. When she has time," Raidou said, glaring. "And stop being a punk." Then he began to wait.
And wait. And wait. He'd apparently had the bad timing to come by just as everyone who'd go by the mirror had decided to take off to work.
Raidou got on with his life, assuming Kakashi would find him when Amiri got around to coming through. At least this time it wasn't an emergency. Exactly.
It was nearly a day later when there was a knock at his door.
He opened it, scruffling a hand through his shaggy hair, and brightened. "Amiri! Come in, quick." He grabbed her wrist and hauled her inside, closing the door in Kakashi's face. "Okay, I did what you said and--" his brightness dimmed. "I think Genma might like me. I mean, we could just be friends. I . . . don't know."
She paused, re-opened the door and leaned her head out. "Thank you." She told Kakashi, before reshutting it. "You currently _are_ just friends, you know." It was the problem . . .
"Well . . . then . . . we can stay that way. Right?" he asked plaintively.
"Well, you can't really *start* that way. It's where you are now, understand?" And for Genma it was almost a step backwards. "What do you think the step after friendship is?"
Raidou flumped down into a chair, sitting cross legged and folding over until he could put his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. "I'm not stupid, you know," he muttered. "But . . . I'm pretty sure I'm not gay."
*I'm pretty sure your wrong,* Amiri thought. "You talk about him like you're already dating, you know."
"I--what? What's that supposed to mean?" Raidou asked, nonplussed.
"It means exactly what I said. All the talks we had in my backyard almost always came back to him. How funny he was, or ballsy, or great," she said. "You talked about Genma as much as you talked about Hana."
Raidou fidgeted. "Well . . . it just means we're good friends. I mean, I spend most of my time with him, so of course I'd talk about him a lot. And--" he scowled. "And it still doesn't solve my problem! I mean, if you're wrong and he doesn't like me *like that*, then I'm not about to ask him about it. And if he does--then what?"
"He likes you like that," Amiri said, finally sitting down on the arm of the couch, pulling up her feet. "That's a fact, not a theory."
"So . . ." Raidou rubbed his eyes. He'd known that. He knew he'd known that, had known it, for years. It was easier to pretend they were just really unusually good friends. "Now what?" he asked quietly.
"Well . . ." She took a deep breath. "I'd suggest . . ." She stopped. "Listen, you're gay. Now, don't argue with me yet. If we're assuming that you're gay, the next question is, would you date him?" The answer was a yes, no matter what he *said* next, but she waited for it anyway.
Raidou stared miserably at his feet. "Amiri, look," he began quietly, after a long silent moment, "there's this . . . see, if I asked Genma to date me and it all worked out, great. If I dated him and then realized that it was all a mistake, that I wasn't gay or--or that I just didn't like *him*--" he took a deep breath. "My family's all dead, and his might as well be, and . . . and he's the closest thing I *have* to family. I can't risk that on a maybe."
"I don't think that, if you dated, and it didn't work out, he'd hate you for it," she said after a moment, rocking slightly. "If you dated, and you both realized you were incompatible, it'd at the very least, clear the air . . . And if you tell him that at the start, he'd probably accept it. I'm not saying you should go sleep with him right now. I'm saying you should go talk to him, and tell him you'd . . . be willing to try a date." She paused, considered, then tagged on, almost darkly, "-if either of you know how to do that . . ."
Raidou ignored the insult. "Are you kidding?" he asked on a yelp. "Be okay with it? he didn't even *date* that other Raidou and--assuming what you say is true and that other Raidou isn't some freak who actually *hurt* him--" and if he was, Raidou was going to find a way to hurt him *back*, "then he's having a total meltdown over--over--I don't even know what over! He won't talk to me and it wasn't even me! What happens when it *is* me?"
"That's why you should date him. Don't be like my Raidou," she countered. "And of course Genma was hurt by my Raidou. He had his heart ripped out."
Raidou stared at her. Heart ripped out? That . . . sounded intensely painful. "I don't want to cause that," he nearly whimpered.
"I don't think you will, but there's a risk involved with any chance. And any new relationship is taking a chance. Best friends don't always make good lovers," she said, opting for honesty.
Raidou picked at a hangnail morosely. "What if things screw up?"
"Then they screw up. What if your next missions goes south and you die?"
"Then I haven't died hurting him," Raidou muttered.
"That wasn't the point I was trying to make." Her mouth twitched in amusement. "My point was that you shouldn't go into a relationship or a mission thinking of how it's going to go wrong. Have you been able to talk to him?"
"You said to leave him alone," Raidou pointed out. Then he flushed slightly. "I sent Iruka over. And Asuma. They got to talk to him. Iruka won't say how he's doing, just to give him some time."
"Well . . ." She debated. "Now's probably a good time to talk to him. Start off by telling him you know he's in love with you. And admit that you're upset that he's hurt."
Raidou thought about that. "What if he's not in love with me and I make an idiot out of myself?"
"Then he'll probably make fun of you, and you can both have a good laugh," she said with a smile. "Just don't . . . You know him very well, right?"
"Yeah," he said slowly.
"Can you tell when he's lying?" she asked.
"Well, usually," Raidou said. "I mean--he's better at it than I am. More practice. He does undercover work occasionally," he explained. He smiled wryly and gestured to his face. "I can't."
"Look, just . . ." She looked around the apartment. "Do you really believe that you're straight?"
He shrugged. "I don't know anymore," he muttered unhappily. "How are you supposed to *tell* something like that?"
"Well . . ." She leaned her head back, rocking again, hands clasped on her crossed ankles. "I know I'm not, because girls have never made me feel that, twist in your stomach with a glance sensation . . . And men have. I suppose you could go purchase some gay porn and think about it."
The very tips of his ears turned red. "I, uh, suppose. Twist in your stomach at a glance?" he asked, looking at her.
Amiri nodded. "Never felt that?"
Raidou thought about it. "Yeah . . ." he said slowly. "Just . . . never when I expected to feel it."
*Ooooooooohhhhhh.* Amiri bowed her head down so she'd look less like she was gloating, composed herself, and looked back up. "Tell me about it?"
He frowned. "Well, I mean, at pretty people. I guess that's normal. Right? Just . . . Asuma always turns and *looks* at these girls, y'know, and I never realize it . . . Like that kind of stomach-twisting?" He rubbed a hand through his hair. "I should have felt it *then*, huh?"
"Well, more like, when you turn to look and someone pretty goes by, and they turn and *look* back at you. That feeling. The eye contact," she said, trying to clarify.
He chewed on his lip. "Yeah," He mumbled. "I think I've felt that . . ."
"When everything else drops away for a second?" she prodded.
The red went from the tips of his ears and mottled through the scarring on his face. "I just thought I could appreciate all *sorts* of pretty people," he mumbled.
She hopped off the couch and relocated to the arm of his chair, patting his shoulder. "S'not completely without precedence for people not to realize that they're bi or gay until well after puberty," she offered, guessing that 'all sorts of pretty people' included pretty people with dicks.
Raidou flopped over so his head was on her knee. "*Thirty-two*?" he said, self-disgust evident. "But . . . but I might *not* be gay." He was clinging to that thought because, damnit, if that thought was wrong . . . well, there were all sorts of assumptions that could be shaken. "I mean . . . I could just appreciate pretty people. Right?"
"Maybe you're just bi," she offered. "Bi and very very very picky." It was utter bullshit, and she knew it, but it might be a sort of a mental compromise he could cling to. For a while . . . She rubbed his head, fluffing his hair in a sort of pet. If her knee was to be used as a pillow she figured that it wasn't too personal an action.
Raidou sighed and rubbed his face on her leg. "I guess I should think about this," he said finally. "And talk to Genma. And maybe he won't like me like that and we'll just laugh at my idiocy. Right?" he asked hopefully.
"Yeah. And if he says he does, you'll have to talk to him about it. And think about that." It was kind of like talking to a cat. He didn't really listen and rubbed his face on you for attention. She scratched behind his ear on a whim.
He 'mmmm'ed. "Can I talk to him yet? Or does he need more days?" he asked quietly, eyes drifting closed.
"He's probably had enough time. Have you?" she asked. "What are you going to do if he says, 'Yeah, you're right, I'm in love with you.'?"
Raidou's eyes opened. "I . . . don't know. What should I do?"
"Well." She leaned over enough to see his face. "You've been friends with him forever. Tell him that no matter what, you'll still be his friend. That's important, that you get him to believe that, first. The next part depends on you. You're bi and picky, think he's good enough?"
Raidou gave a half-barking laugh. "*Of course* he's good enough. He's per--" he froze and colored. "I mean . . . I, uh . . ." he swallowed. "Are we seriously talking about me dating him?"
"If we are, I suggest taking it slow. Asking him to take it slow. Since neither of you have apparently ever dated before," she said, smiling gently. "Perfect, huh?"
Raidou stared at her, face turning slowly paler. "Maybe," he said slowly, "We could just start with me finding out if he likes me."
"All right." She nodded encouragingly. "Are you going to do that tonight, or are you going to think about what you'll do whe- if he says yes?"
Raidou eyed her, not liking that slip, then took a deep breath and pushed up off her leg. "Tonight. Before I chicken out entirely." He paused and looked at her hopefully. "Will you come?"
"You want me to stand there?" She shook her head. "I don't think that'd be a good idea. You need to be able to be honest with each other. And I don't want to stand outside the door . . . Not too thrilled at the idea of getting caught, you know?"
"Oh, yeah," Raidou said slowly. "Well . . . will you stay here? Or--or stick close to the mirror or something? If you stay here, I have food . . ." he offered hopefully.
She thought about it, and eventually caved under the nearly desperate, puppy dog look he was giving her. "I'll stay here, but you need to start out your talk with him explaining that you need to be *back* in a decent amount of time so that I can get *home* in under . . . two hours. All right? So if you have to cut it short, he won't think you're just freaking out on him."
"Okay," Raidou said, getting quickly to his feet. "Okay. I'll do that." He grinned brightly. "You just--there's food, and, uh, books--those are Kakashi's, you might not want to read them--and--and--yeah. I'll be back in two hours. Or less." He practically scampered out the door.
Amiri investigated, found a MASSIVE amount of food, and fixed herself a plate before locating his radio. She found the news and sat back down, listening to the differences in their worlds.
**
Raidou waited impatiently outside Genma's apartment door. "C'mon, Genma," he said when the wait went on too long. "You said a few days!"
Eventually, the door opened. Genma smiled weakly at him. "Hey, Rai. What's up?"
"You look like hell," Raidou snorted, rubbing a hand through his hair uncomfortably.
"You came here just to tell me that?"
"No! No--I, uh, look, I have to get back to my place so we can't hang all night, but . . ." he took a deep breath and dove right in. "Do you like me?"
Genma blinked. "Of course," he said finally, face flat. "We're friends."
"No, I mean--more than that. Do you like me *like that*?" Raidou asked. He was stupidly nervous. He hated it.
"Why?" Genma asked slowly, eyes narrowing. "You're not gay . . ."
Raidou flushed. "Well--" he didn't know what to say to that. "Just answer the damn question."
Genma sighed and rubbed his eyes, leaning against the door. "No. I don't like you *like that.*"
Raidou stopped dead. ". . . oh," he said finally. Genma looked at him, waiting.
He wasn't sure what to do now. He could tell Genma was lying--he had that funny look in his eyes--but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do about it.
"Okay," he said finally, and slowly wandered back down the hall. Damn it. Amiri would know what to do!
**
Raidou slammed back into his apartment, having traveled the distance between his and Genma's at a sprint. "Amiri!" he practically yelled. "Amiri--I don't know what to do *now!*"
She'd barely taken her second bite, and had to chew for a moment before she could swallow. "What happened?" She asked, reaching for her glass of water before the peppers made her cough.
"I asked him and he got weird and said *of course* he didn't like me, that we were friends, but he's *lying.* He had that--that--" Raidou gestured with his hands as if he could shape the word in the air. "That *weird* look to his face. Like he'd smelled gas."
She set her sandwich down and stood up. She set a hand on his arm. "Tell him--Raidou, here, calm down." She waited for him to look at her. When she had eye contact, she continued. "Go back. Tell him that you know he's lying. Does it upset you, that he's lying about this?"
"Yes!" Raidou nearly shouted. "Why would he *lie*--and that's not fair, if I have to be all honest about all this!"
"Tell him that!" she said, also nearly shouting. "Go back there, get him to let you in, tell you you already *know* he's in love with you, and it pisses you off he's lying about it! *Tell him* it's not fair for him to lie, if you're trying to be honest," she added, as an after thought. "Now, get back there before he can get drunk again."
"Right," Raidou said, nodding rapidly. "Right! Okay! I'm gonna--I'm--I fucking hate feelings-shit," he muttered, then looked like he braced himself. "Okay. I'm going back over there, and I'm going to tell him he's being an ass." He turned and headed out the door.
"Go get 'em tiger!" she shouted as the door shut. Then she plunked back down. If he wasn't back in ten minutes, it'd *probably* be safe to start eating again . . .
And she felt bad for thinking it, but she really, really hoped they didn't end up having sex. Aside from the fact it really *wouldn't* be the most healthy of things for them . . . she didn't want to be forgotten . . .
**
Genma was gone by the time Raidou got back to his apartment. Raidou frowned and looked around, but the Special Jounin wasn't, in fact, hiding in the closet or under the bed.
Which meant he'd probably taken off to the pub.
With a muttered oath, Raidou headed down the street to the Toad and Shuriken, the favorite hangout of most of the bar-going shinobi. He walked in, pushing through doors into a well-lit, spacious room. It wasn't what a normal person would consider conducive to relaxing, but when you were a shinobi, shadows were threats. Light was good.
Genma was sitting ON someone's table, giving them come-hither eyes and drinking from their glass.
Raidou *hated* it when he did that. "Genma," he snarled, storming up and dragging the Special Jounin to his feet. "What are you *doing?*"
"Trying to get laid," Genma snapped back, shrugging free. "Which, by the way, you're making rather difficult." He adjusted his shirt, wiggling his shoulders until it fell comfortably again. "Was there something you needed?"
"Yes," Raidou snapped, annoyed. "I know you lied to me, and I don't like it. Why didn't you just say yes?"
Genma looked at him blankly.
"Yes you like me!" Raidou yelled. He knew that everyone in the pub was looking at him, but he just didn't care. Seeing Genma about to throw himself at--he glanced over, and realized it wasn't even a *Leaf* ninja, it was a *Sand* dignitary--at some old fart had been entirely too much.
"Yes!" Genma roared. "I like you, you stupid fuck! I've been trying to show you for years--"
"Why didn't you just say something?" Raidou nearly shouted back, angry at being screamed at.
Genma stopped dead and stared at him, aghast. The bartender's rag squeaked as he dried a clean glass. "I--why--" Genma stared to laugh, eyes wild. "I *did*! And you fucking *freaked out* on me! Gods! What do you *want* from me?"
"I--I want--I want you to tell me the truth!" Raidou said, a little taken aback. Genma had told him? And he'd freaked out? He didn't even *remember* it.
"I want to bend you over the fucking table and screw your brains out, okay?" Genma bellowed.
"Here here!" someone called from the back. Raidou ignored them.
"It's all I've ever wanted!" Genma was still yelling. "But I try and tell you that and you *spaz* and won't talk to me and *now* you're upset because I *didn't* tell you and--fuck you, asshole!" he shouted, and threw a beer glass at Raidou's head.
Raidou ducked, just in time. He heard it shatter. "Genma--"
Genma picked up a plate and threw it, discus-style.
Raidou leapt aside. "Fine. Look, you want to fight? We'll fight!" He dropped into a defensive stance, expecting Genma to back off.
Instead, Genma went for his throat.
He eeped and shifted quickly into spar-mode. Then out and out fight mode, because Genma wasn't pulling his punches.
He heard a table break. And then a chair. After that, he stopped paying attention.
**************
In Which Raidou Gets A Talking-To About His Sexuality, and Genma is Quite Put Out
Authors: MessyPeaches and JBMcDragon
Status: Complete, much to be posted.
Rating: Er. There's one chapter that's like, hard R/soft NC-17. R overall for language.
Summary: Following in the footsteps of Volume 1 and Volume 2, shit happens. Momo and JB laugh.
Volume 3, Chapter 1
Vol 3, Chapter 2
Vol 3, Chapter 3
Vol 3, Chapter 4
Vol 3, Chapter 5
Vol 3, Chapter 6
Vol 3, Chapter 7
Vol 3, Chapter 8
JB and Momo
Note: There may be a slight delay getting the next--and last--chapter out. Probably Thursday, rather than tomorrow.
Also, another hint about that last story we referenced: Momo wrote it when there were other writers around. And it's on LJ. I PROMISE. :D
JB
Chapter Nine
Raidou really wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now. He'd done like Amiri said, gave Genma a few days alone (and sent Iruka to check on him. And then Asuma. But he didn't go himself, and that was the important part) and thought.
And thought.
And come to the conclusion that, if Genma were a woman, he'd have decided the man was at least in *crush* with him years ago.
He just didn't know what to do now. So he went back to Kakashi's.
"My mirror is not your personal therapist," Kakashi said blandly, blocking the doorway.
"Just tell them I need to talk to Amiri. When she has time," Raidou said, glaring. "And stop being a punk." Then he began to wait.
And wait. And wait. He'd apparently had the bad timing to come by just as everyone who'd go by the mirror had decided to take off to work.
Raidou got on with his life, assuming Kakashi would find him when Amiri got around to coming through. At least this time it wasn't an emergency. Exactly.
It was nearly a day later when there was a knock at his door.
He opened it, scruffling a hand through his shaggy hair, and brightened. "Amiri! Come in, quick." He grabbed her wrist and hauled her inside, closing the door in Kakashi's face. "Okay, I did what you said and--" his brightness dimmed. "I think Genma might like me. I mean, we could just be friends. I . . . don't know."
She paused, re-opened the door and leaned her head out. "Thank you." She told Kakashi, before reshutting it. "You currently _are_ just friends, you know." It was the problem . . .
"Well . . . then . . . we can stay that way. Right?" he asked plaintively.
"Well, you can't really *start* that way. It's where you are now, understand?" And for Genma it was almost a step backwards. "What do you think the step after friendship is?"
Raidou flumped down into a chair, sitting cross legged and folding over until he could put his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. "I'm not stupid, you know," he muttered. "But . . . I'm pretty sure I'm not gay."
*I'm pretty sure your wrong,* Amiri thought. "You talk about him like you're already dating, you know."
"I--what? What's that supposed to mean?" Raidou asked, nonplussed.
"It means exactly what I said. All the talks we had in my backyard almost always came back to him. How funny he was, or ballsy, or great," she said. "You talked about Genma as much as you talked about Hana."
Raidou fidgeted. "Well . . . it just means we're good friends. I mean, I spend most of my time with him, so of course I'd talk about him a lot. And--" he scowled. "And it still doesn't solve my problem! I mean, if you're wrong and he doesn't like me *like that*, then I'm not about to ask him about it. And if he does--then what?"
"He likes you like that," Amiri said, finally sitting down on the arm of the couch, pulling up her feet. "That's a fact, not a theory."
"So . . ." Raidou rubbed his eyes. He'd known that. He knew he'd known that, had known it, for years. It was easier to pretend they were just really unusually good friends. "Now what?" he asked quietly.
"Well . . ." She took a deep breath. "I'd suggest . . ." She stopped. "Listen, you're gay. Now, don't argue with me yet. If we're assuming that you're gay, the next question is, would you date him?" The answer was a yes, no matter what he *said* next, but she waited for it anyway.
Raidou stared miserably at his feet. "Amiri, look," he began quietly, after a long silent moment, "there's this . . . see, if I asked Genma to date me and it all worked out, great. If I dated him and then realized that it was all a mistake, that I wasn't gay or--or that I just didn't like *him*--" he took a deep breath. "My family's all dead, and his might as well be, and . . . and he's the closest thing I *have* to family. I can't risk that on a maybe."
"I don't think that, if you dated, and it didn't work out, he'd hate you for it," she said after a moment, rocking slightly. "If you dated, and you both realized you were incompatible, it'd at the very least, clear the air . . . And if you tell him that at the start, he'd probably accept it. I'm not saying you should go sleep with him right now. I'm saying you should go talk to him, and tell him you'd . . . be willing to try a date." She paused, considered, then tagged on, almost darkly, "-if either of you know how to do that . . ."
Raidou ignored the insult. "Are you kidding?" he asked on a yelp. "Be okay with it? he didn't even *date* that other Raidou and--assuming what you say is true and that other Raidou isn't some freak who actually *hurt* him--" and if he was, Raidou was going to find a way to hurt him *back*, "then he's having a total meltdown over--over--I don't even know what over! He won't talk to me and it wasn't even me! What happens when it *is* me?"
"That's why you should date him. Don't be like my Raidou," she countered. "And of course Genma was hurt by my Raidou. He had his heart ripped out."
Raidou stared at her. Heart ripped out? That . . . sounded intensely painful. "I don't want to cause that," he nearly whimpered.
"I don't think you will, but there's a risk involved with any chance. And any new relationship is taking a chance. Best friends don't always make good lovers," she said, opting for honesty.
Raidou picked at a hangnail morosely. "What if things screw up?"
"Then they screw up. What if your next missions goes south and you die?"
"Then I haven't died hurting him," Raidou muttered.
"That wasn't the point I was trying to make." Her mouth twitched in amusement. "My point was that you shouldn't go into a relationship or a mission thinking of how it's going to go wrong. Have you been able to talk to him?"
"You said to leave him alone," Raidou pointed out. Then he flushed slightly. "I sent Iruka over. And Asuma. They got to talk to him. Iruka won't say how he's doing, just to give him some time."
"Well . . ." She debated. "Now's probably a good time to talk to him. Start off by telling him you know he's in love with you. And admit that you're upset that he's hurt."
Raidou thought about that. "What if he's not in love with me and I make an idiot out of myself?"
"Then he'll probably make fun of you, and you can both have a good laugh," she said with a smile. "Just don't . . . You know him very well, right?"
"Yeah," he said slowly.
"Can you tell when he's lying?" she asked.
"Well, usually," Raidou said. "I mean--he's better at it than I am. More practice. He does undercover work occasionally," he explained. He smiled wryly and gestured to his face. "I can't."
"Look, just . . ." She looked around the apartment. "Do you really believe that you're straight?"
He shrugged. "I don't know anymore," he muttered unhappily. "How are you supposed to *tell* something like that?"
"Well . . ." She leaned her head back, rocking again, hands clasped on her crossed ankles. "I know I'm not, because girls have never made me feel that, twist in your stomach with a glance sensation . . . And men have. I suppose you could go purchase some gay porn and think about it."
The very tips of his ears turned red. "I, uh, suppose. Twist in your stomach at a glance?" he asked, looking at her.
Amiri nodded. "Never felt that?"
Raidou thought about it. "Yeah . . ." he said slowly. "Just . . . never when I expected to feel it."
*Ooooooooohhhhhh.* Amiri bowed her head down so she'd look less like she was gloating, composed herself, and looked back up. "Tell me about it?"
He frowned. "Well, I mean, at pretty people. I guess that's normal. Right? Just . . . Asuma always turns and *looks* at these girls, y'know, and I never realize it . . . Like that kind of stomach-twisting?" He rubbed a hand through his hair. "I should have felt it *then*, huh?"
"Well, more like, when you turn to look and someone pretty goes by, and they turn and *look* back at you. That feeling. The eye contact," she said, trying to clarify.
He chewed on his lip. "Yeah," He mumbled. "I think I've felt that . . ."
"When everything else drops away for a second?" she prodded.
The red went from the tips of his ears and mottled through the scarring on his face. "I just thought I could appreciate all *sorts* of pretty people," he mumbled.
She hopped off the couch and relocated to the arm of his chair, patting his shoulder. "S'not completely without precedence for people not to realize that they're bi or gay until well after puberty," she offered, guessing that 'all sorts of pretty people' included pretty people with dicks.
Raidou flopped over so his head was on her knee. "*Thirty-two*?" he said, self-disgust evident. "But . . . but I might *not* be gay." He was clinging to that thought because, damnit, if that thought was wrong . . . well, there were all sorts of assumptions that could be shaken. "I mean . . . I could just appreciate pretty people. Right?"
"Maybe you're just bi," she offered. "Bi and very very very picky." It was utter bullshit, and she knew it, but it might be a sort of a mental compromise he could cling to. For a while . . . She rubbed his head, fluffing his hair in a sort of pet. If her knee was to be used as a pillow she figured that it wasn't too personal an action.
Raidou sighed and rubbed his face on her leg. "I guess I should think about this," he said finally. "And talk to Genma. And maybe he won't like me like that and we'll just laugh at my idiocy. Right?" he asked hopefully.
"Yeah. And if he says he does, you'll have to talk to him about it. And think about that." It was kind of like talking to a cat. He didn't really listen and rubbed his face on you for attention. She scratched behind his ear on a whim.
He 'mmmm'ed. "Can I talk to him yet? Or does he need more days?" he asked quietly, eyes drifting closed.
"He's probably had enough time. Have you?" she asked. "What are you going to do if he says, 'Yeah, you're right, I'm in love with you.'?"
Raidou's eyes opened. "I . . . don't know. What should I do?"
"Well." She leaned over enough to see his face. "You've been friends with him forever. Tell him that no matter what, you'll still be his friend. That's important, that you get him to believe that, first. The next part depends on you. You're bi and picky, think he's good enough?"
Raidou gave a half-barking laugh. "*Of course* he's good enough. He's per--" he froze and colored. "I mean . . . I, uh . . ." he swallowed. "Are we seriously talking about me dating him?"
"If we are, I suggest taking it slow. Asking him to take it slow. Since neither of you have apparently ever dated before," she said, smiling gently. "Perfect, huh?"
Raidou stared at her, face turning slowly paler. "Maybe," he said slowly, "We could just start with me finding out if he likes me."
"All right." She nodded encouragingly. "Are you going to do that tonight, or are you going to think about what you'll do whe- if he says yes?"
Raidou eyed her, not liking that slip, then took a deep breath and pushed up off her leg. "Tonight. Before I chicken out entirely." He paused and looked at her hopefully. "Will you come?"
"You want me to stand there?" She shook her head. "I don't think that'd be a good idea. You need to be able to be honest with each other. And I don't want to stand outside the door . . . Not too thrilled at the idea of getting caught, you know?"
"Oh, yeah," Raidou said slowly. "Well . . . will you stay here? Or--or stick close to the mirror or something? If you stay here, I have food . . ." he offered hopefully.
She thought about it, and eventually caved under the nearly desperate, puppy dog look he was giving her. "I'll stay here, but you need to start out your talk with him explaining that you need to be *back* in a decent amount of time so that I can get *home* in under . . . two hours. All right? So if you have to cut it short, he won't think you're just freaking out on him."
"Okay," Raidou said, getting quickly to his feet. "Okay. I'll do that." He grinned brightly. "You just--there's food, and, uh, books--those are Kakashi's, you might not want to read them--and--and--yeah. I'll be back in two hours. Or less." He practically scampered out the door.
Amiri investigated, found a MASSIVE amount of food, and fixed herself a plate before locating his radio. She found the news and sat back down, listening to the differences in their worlds.
**
Raidou waited impatiently outside Genma's apartment door. "C'mon, Genma," he said when the wait went on too long. "You said a few days!"
Eventually, the door opened. Genma smiled weakly at him. "Hey, Rai. What's up?"
"You look like hell," Raidou snorted, rubbing a hand through his hair uncomfortably.
"You came here just to tell me that?"
"No! No--I, uh, look, I have to get back to my place so we can't hang all night, but . . ." he took a deep breath and dove right in. "Do you like me?"
Genma blinked. "Of course," he said finally, face flat. "We're friends."
"No, I mean--more than that. Do you like me *like that*?" Raidou asked. He was stupidly nervous. He hated it.
"Why?" Genma asked slowly, eyes narrowing. "You're not gay . . ."
Raidou flushed. "Well--" he didn't know what to say to that. "Just answer the damn question."
Genma sighed and rubbed his eyes, leaning against the door. "No. I don't like you *like that.*"
Raidou stopped dead. ". . . oh," he said finally. Genma looked at him, waiting.
He wasn't sure what to do now. He could tell Genma was lying--he had that funny look in his eyes--but he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do about it.
"Okay," he said finally, and slowly wandered back down the hall. Damn it. Amiri would know what to do!
**
Raidou slammed back into his apartment, having traveled the distance between his and Genma's at a sprint. "Amiri!" he practically yelled. "Amiri--I don't know what to do *now!*"
She'd barely taken her second bite, and had to chew for a moment before she could swallow. "What happened?" She asked, reaching for her glass of water before the peppers made her cough.
"I asked him and he got weird and said *of course* he didn't like me, that we were friends, but he's *lying.* He had that--that--" Raidou gestured with his hands as if he could shape the word in the air. "That *weird* look to his face. Like he'd smelled gas."
She set her sandwich down and stood up. She set a hand on his arm. "Tell him--Raidou, here, calm down." She waited for him to look at her. When she had eye contact, she continued. "Go back. Tell him that you know he's lying. Does it upset you, that he's lying about this?"
"Yes!" Raidou nearly shouted. "Why would he *lie*--and that's not fair, if I have to be all honest about all this!"
"Tell him that!" she said, also nearly shouting. "Go back there, get him to let you in, tell you you already *know* he's in love with you, and it pisses you off he's lying about it! *Tell him* it's not fair for him to lie, if you're trying to be honest," she added, as an after thought. "Now, get back there before he can get drunk again."
"Right," Raidou said, nodding rapidly. "Right! Okay! I'm gonna--I'm--I fucking hate feelings-shit," he muttered, then looked like he braced himself. "Okay. I'm going back over there, and I'm going to tell him he's being an ass." He turned and headed out the door.
"Go get 'em tiger!" she shouted as the door shut. Then she plunked back down. If he wasn't back in ten minutes, it'd *probably* be safe to start eating again . . .
And she felt bad for thinking it, but she really, really hoped they didn't end up having sex. Aside from the fact it really *wouldn't* be the most healthy of things for them . . . she didn't want to be forgotten . . .
**
Genma was gone by the time Raidou got back to his apartment. Raidou frowned and looked around, but the Special Jounin wasn't, in fact, hiding in the closet or under the bed.
Which meant he'd probably taken off to the pub.
With a muttered oath, Raidou headed down the street to the Toad and Shuriken, the favorite hangout of most of the bar-going shinobi. He walked in, pushing through doors into a well-lit, spacious room. It wasn't what a normal person would consider conducive to relaxing, but when you were a shinobi, shadows were threats. Light was good.
Genma was sitting ON someone's table, giving them come-hither eyes and drinking from their glass.
Raidou *hated* it when he did that. "Genma," he snarled, storming up and dragging the Special Jounin to his feet. "What are you *doing?*"
"Trying to get laid," Genma snapped back, shrugging free. "Which, by the way, you're making rather difficult." He adjusted his shirt, wiggling his shoulders until it fell comfortably again. "Was there something you needed?"
"Yes," Raidou snapped, annoyed. "I know you lied to me, and I don't like it. Why didn't you just say yes?"
Genma looked at him blankly.
"Yes you like me!" Raidou yelled. He knew that everyone in the pub was looking at him, but he just didn't care. Seeing Genma about to throw himself at--he glanced over, and realized it wasn't even a *Leaf* ninja, it was a *Sand* dignitary--at some old fart had been entirely too much.
"Yes!" Genma roared. "I like you, you stupid fuck! I've been trying to show you for years--"
"Why didn't you just say something?" Raidou nearly shouted back, angry at being screamed at.
Genma stopped dead and stared at him, aghast. The bartender's rag squeaked as he dried a clean glass. "I--why--" Genma stared to laugh, eyes wild. "I *did*! And you fucking *freaked out* on me! Gods! What do you *want* from me?"
"I--I want--I want you to tell me the truth!" Raidou said, a little taken aback. Genma had told him? And he'd freaked out? He didn't even *remember* it.
"I want to bend you over the fucking table and screw your brains out, okay?" Genma bellowed.
"Here here!" someone called from the back. Raidou ignored them.
"It's all I've ever wanted!" Genma was still yelling. "But I try and tell you that and you *spaz* and won't talk to me and *now* you're upset because I *didn't* tell you and--fuck you, asshole!" he shouted, and threw a beer glass at Raidou's head.
Raidou ducked, just in time. He heard it shatter. "Genma--"
Genma picked up a plate and threw it, discus-style.
Raidou leapt aside. "Fine. Look, you want to fight? We'll fight!" He dropped into a defensive stance, expecting Genma to back off.
Instead, Genma went for his throat.
He eeped and shifted quickly into spar-mode. Then out and out fight mode, because Genma wasn't pulling his punches.
He heard a table break. And then a chair. After that, he stopped paying attention.
**************