An Oasis
TITLE: An Oasis
PAIRING: Ryo/Shige
WORD COUNT: 1,923
RATING: G (as always.)
SUMMARY: Ryo isn’t quite as smart as he figures himself to be.
Ryo has what he considers to be a flawless plan to get Shige to move in with him. But not only is it flawless, it’s simple, which, he thinks, means there’s little chance of things straying from The Plan, which consists of keeping Shige from needing to go to his apartment for a month. Ryo figures if Shige’s does that, whether he realizes it not, Ryo will be able to convince Shige to stay altogether. Shige hates wasting money, and there’s not much that’s more wasteful than paying a months’ rent and never going to the apartment. Hell, Shige might even bring it up before the month is up (Ryo finds that alternative of The Plan acceptable as well).
It’s 10 days into The Plan and it’s falling apart in front of Ryo’s eyes.
“Come over. Now.”
Shige sighs over the phone. “Ryo-chan, it’s late, I’m tired. My place is 10 minutes away, yours is 40.”
“I’ll come get you. Sleep in the car.”
“It’ll still take you half-an-hour to get here! I’m going to my place. It’s one night, jeez.”
Ryo tries to argue the point further, but Shige hangs up and doesn’t pick up.
-- -- --
Shige’s back the next night, and Ryo figures one little set back isn’t reason enough to abandon The Plan, so he pushes ahead, Shige still completely unknowing. But in the middle of week three, there’s another problem.
“I’m going to run home for a little.”
Ryo nearly falls off his seat at the kitchen table. “Why?!”
“I need my graphing calculator.”
Ryo isn’t sure what that is, but it doesn’t matter, because The Plan cannot be deviated from. “Use mine.”
Shige eyes Ryo carefully. “You have one?”
“Um, yeah.”
“What’s it look like?”
“A…cal…culator?”
Shige shakes his head. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”
Ryo’s horrified - but can’t let this happen again.
“I’ll buy you a new one!”
“Ryo!” Shige is starting to sounding irritated. “I have one. Relax.”
Shige starts putting on his shoes and Ryo’s panicking gets worse. Shige notices.
“What’s up with you lately?” Shige’s turned in the genkan, hands on his hips. “You freaked out the other day about it too.”
Ryo fiddles with his hands, unable to find an answer that will let him keep his pride. Shige leaves and comes back in three hours and Ryo is obviously in a mood.
-- -- --
Three days later, The Plan breaks down completely while they’re cleaning the dishes after dinner.
“I have a test tomorrow morning. I think I’m going to spend the night at my place.”
Ryo frowns. “How early?”
“8.”
Ryo’s quiet, weighing his options on how to fight it without sounding conceited.
“You want me to go with you?”
Shige laughs. “I’ll be fine on my own. I need to get a lot of sleep, and if you’re there, we’ll end up staying up later than I should.”
Ryo gnaws on his lips, Shige sees it and he sighs.
“Why won’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
Shige throws the sponge into the sink. “What’s on your mind! You’ve been acting weird lately, especially when I need or want to go back to my apartment. What’s going on?”
Ryo dries his hands off on his pants and worries about drifting so far from The Plan, but he figures years of being an idol have prepared him for improvising cheesy line.
Ryo smiles, and wraps his arms around Shige’s waist. “Hey, Shige, don’t you think that apartment is kind of wasteful?”
“My apartment?”
“Yeah. You’re barely there anymore.” Ryo tugs Shige closer. “My place is a lot better, isn’t it?”
“Well… yeah…”
“So why do you need your apartment any more?”
“Because… it’s mine?”
Ryo frowns. “Shige. Don’t be stupid.”
Shige blinks. “Wait. Do you…”
Ryo grins, waiting for the blush to spread across Shige’s cheeks, for him to bury his face in Ryo’s shoulder and say something cute.
But it doesn’t happen. Instead, Shige starts fidgeting, looking away from Ryo.
“What wrong?”
“Ryo-chan,” He’s actually pushing on Ryo’s shoulders. “I-“
Ryo lets go, and Shige immediately leaves the kitchen, hurrying into the living room, standing on the far side of the coffee table. He’s tense, and it’s obvious.
“Shige, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t want to be kept.”
Ryo blanches. “What?! I didn’t mean that at all!”
“But I can’t pay for anything here!” Shige’s hands ball up into fists at this sides, “Not even half the rent! And you’re too picky about food for shopping, and… and I’m not a maid! And-“
“Okay, okay.” Ryo raises his hands. “I get it. You want to keep your apartment. Fine.”
“Ryo!” And it seems like Shige’s actually getting offended with the conversation. “It’s not just about keeping it! You don’t understand at all!”
Ryo frowns, because he doesn’t get it and now he knows that.
Some how, Shige ends up staying the night. Ryo’s not sure how that happened, and he’s not sure he’s happy about it either - and that’s the strange part. Shige does eventually move away from the table, back towards the center of the apartment, but he eyes Ryo nervously all night, like that conversation is suddenly going to pick up again. Shige goes to sleep early like he wanted and Ryo feels weird and doesn’t want to disturb him, so he procrastinates on going to bed. He fiddles around his computer and works on lyrics and when he gets a message from Pi at around 1am and he’s awake to read it, he realizes he should go to sleep. The door to the bedroom is still open, only a few inches. Probably because Shige had felt odd about closing Ryo out of his own bedroom. Ryo ends up sleeping on the couch.
In the morning, Ryo wakes up when Shige gets up, but he stays lying on the couch and doesn’t really move. He watches Shige get a cup out of the cupboard, holding it carefully and placing it on the counter before pouring hot water into it to make tea. Shige’s treats everything delicately, like it’s expensive, even when he knows it’s not, and Ryo had never realized that before. When he’s done with the tea, Shige takes a banana from the bowl on the counter, but it’s one from near the bottom that’s a little brown - the kind Ryo will let rot before he eats it. After Shige leaves, Ryo wishes he’d slept through the whole thing, because all it did make obvious that Shige treated Ryo’s kitchen like it wasn’t his own. He groans into the couch and doesn’t move to the bed - he’s worried about Shige’s residual warmth haunting him.
He has work, but during his lunch break, he chooses to call his sister instead of going out with Hina and Maru.
“Ryo-chan! Hi! It’s been so long since you’ve called!”
“I have a confession.”
“Wha- Oh, okay.”
“I’m seeing a guy right now.”
“Like… in front of you?”
“I’m seeing a guy and want him to move in with me.”
Silence, and then, “Oh my God! You’re seeing a guy! That one from the magazine!!”
“And now that that part’s over, I need your help.”
“Does Dad know? Wait, of course he doesn’t. If Dad knew, he’d be dead.”
“Or I would be. But I need your help.”
“That or a murder-suicide… Ryo, swear you will never tell Dad. I couldn’t deal with that.”
“Focus! I need your help!”
“Oh, okay. What’s up?”
“I want him to move in with me.”
“You’re so cute.”
“But he doesn’t want to.”
“I need to come up to Tokyo and meet him.”
“How do I get him to?”
Ryo’s sister sighs. “Ryo-chan… You can’t force him to move in with you. Things like this… you have to be careful. I’ve seen a lot of relationships end because of arguments stemming from the move-in conversation.”
“But I want him to move in. He spends most of his time at my place anyways.”
“Ryo-chan, I’m really happy that you’ve found some one who you connect with so well, but… He might just not be ready for it. Moving in together is a big step. It’s a lot more work. You think you know him now, but once he moves in you’ll find out about all the weird little things he does in his own space, and I’m sure at least one of them will annoy you. …. He might spend most of his time at your place, which makes his look useless, but for him, it’s probably like a security blanket. It’s a space that’s all his. When you live with some one, you’re completely vulnerable.”
Ryo frowns. “Do you want me to be happy or not?”
“Of course! But if you guys break-up because you were too hasty about it then you’ll be in a horrible mood for months! But listen, Ryo-chan, him not wanting to move in doesn’t really mean too much. You might have just surprised him. Don’t… Don’t doubt him okay?"
Ryo agrees, and then bids his sister goodbye, going back to work.
-- -- --
In the evening, Shige’s back. Ryo isn’t sure if it’s because he wants to be there or he feels obligated to be there or if he’s worried Ryo’s upset. It’s awkward all night. They sit together on the couch and watch TV, but there’s a blatant space between them. Neither addresses it. Later, they lie in bed, each on their own side. Ryo feels like the guilty party, since he was one with The Plan and brought it up in the first place. Maybe his sister was right - he was rushing things.
“I surprised you, didn’t I? You didn’t see it coming?”
Shige doesn’t immediately reply, and Ryo thinks he’s asleep, until he replies, quietly, “I didn’t.”
“I was serious, you know. Even if you don’t want to… I was serious.”
“I know…”
Ryo turns on his side. “Shige?”
“I like things how they are now. I like waking up here and going to class or work and coming back. But sometimes… I need peace and quiet. I need some space. And while I’m gone, I miss you and know this is where I like to be.”
“I can get a bigger place. With room for you to have a study, or something.”
“Ryo-chan.”
“Just so you know. If you wanted me to, I would.”
Shige turns on his side, a hand on Ryo’s cheek. “Everything’s perfect. Let’s not disturb it.”
-- -- --
They both wake up abnormally early for some reason and decide to go out for breakfast. There’s a little café on the next block, and at this time, it’s nearly empty. Just a middle aged guy reading a business paper and a barista who’s basically asleep on her feet. Ryo gets a cappuccino and Shige a black coffee with cream; they split a pastry that has strawberry filling. Ryo lets Shige eat most of it. He tries to play footsie under the table, but Shige kicks him. Ryo smiles and drinks some of Shige’s coffee even though he still has half his cappuccino left. As they’re leaving, Ryo wipes some of the strawberry stuff off Shige’s chin with his finger and eats it. Shige laughs quietly and Ryo steps closer. In the elevator, Shige yawns and puts his head on Ryo’s shoulder. They hold hands as Ryo leads the way down the hallway, and don’t let go even when they’re back in the apartment. Shige smiles and Ryo can’t help but agree that everything’s perfect.
PAIRING: Ryo/Shige
WORD COUNT: 1,923
RATING: G (as always.)
SUMMARY: Ryo isn’t quite as smart as he figures himself to be.
Ryo has what he considers to be a flawless plan to get Shige to move in with him. But not only is it flawless, it’s simple, which, he thinks, means there’s little chance of things straying from The Plan, which consists of keeping Shige from needing to go to his apartment for a month. Ryo figures if Shige’s does that, whether he realizes it not, Ryo will be able to convince Shige to stay altogether. Shige hates wasting money, and there’s not much that’s more wasteful than paying a months’ rent and never going to the apartment. Hell, Shige might even bring it up before the month is up (Ryo finds that alternative of The Plan acceptable as well).
It’s 10 days into The Plan and it’s falling apart in front of Ryo’s eyes.
“Come over. Now.”
Shige sighs over the phone. “Ryo-chan, it’s late, I’m tired. My place is 10 minutes away, yours is 40.”
“I’ll come get you. Sleep in the car.”
“It’ll still take you half-an-hour to get here! I’m going to my place. It’s one night, jeez.”
Ryo tries to argue the point further, but Shige hangs up and doesn’t pick up.
-- -- --
Shige’s back the next night, and Ryo figures one little set back isn’t reason enough to abandon The Plan, so he pushes ahead, Shige still completely unknowing. But in the middle of week three, there’s another problem.
“I’m going to run home for a little.”
Ryo nearly falls off his seat at the kitchen table. “Why?!”
“I need my graphing calculator.”
Ryo isn’t sure what that is, but it doesn’t matter, because The Plan cannot be deviated from. “Use mine.”
Shige eyes Ryo carefully. “You have one?”
“Um, yeah.”
“What’s it look like?”
“A…cal…culator?”
Shige shakes his head. “I’ll be back in a few hours.”
Ryo’s horrified - but can’t let this happen again.
“I’ll buy you a new one!”
“Ryo!” Shige is starting to sounding irritated. “I have one. Relax.”
Shige starts putting on his shoes and Ryo’s panicking gets worse. Shige notices.
“What’s up with you lately?” Shige’s turned in the genkan, hands on his hips. “You freaked out the other day about it too.”
Ryo fiddles with his hands, unable to find an answer that will let him keep his pride. Shige leaves and comes back in three hours and Ryo is obviously in a mood.
-- -- --
Three days later, The Plan breaks down completely while they’re cleaning the dishes after dinner.
“I have a test tomorrow morning. I think I’m going to spend the night at my place.”
Ryo frowns. “How early?”
“8.”
Ryo’s quiet, weighing his options on how to fight it without sounding conceited.
“You want me to go with you?”
Shige laughs. “I’ll be fine on my own. I need to get a lot of sleep, and if you’re there, we’ll end up staying up later than I should.”
Ryo gnaws on his lips, Shige sees it and he sighs.
“Why won’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
Shige throws the sponge into the sink. “What’s on your mind! You’ve been acting weird lately, especially when I need or want to go back to my apartment. What’s going on?”
Ryo dries his hands off on his pants and worries about drifting so far from The Plan, but he figures years of being an idol have prepared him for improvising cheesy line.
Ryo smiles, and wraps his arms around Shige’s waist. “Hey, Shige, don’t you think that apartment is kind of wasteful?”
“My apartment?”
“Yeah. You’re barely there anymore.” Ryo tugs Shige closer. “My place is a lot better, isn’t it?”
“Well… yeah…”
“So why do you need your apartment any more?”
“Because… it’s mine?”
Ryo frowns. “Shige. Don’t be stupid.”
Shige blinks. “Wait. Do you…”
Ryo grins, waiting for the blush to spread across Shige’s cheeks, for him to bury his face in Ryo’s shoulder and say something cute.
But it doesn’t happen. Instead, Shige starts fidgeting, looking away from Ryo.
“What wrong?”
“Ryo-chan,” He’s actually pushing on Ryo’s shoulders. “I-“
Ryo lets go, and Shige immediately leaves the kitchen, hurrying into the living room, standing on the far side of the coffee table. He’s tense, and it’s obvious.
“Shige, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t want to be kept.”
Ryo blanches. “What?! I didn’t mean that at all!”
“But I can’t pay for anything here!” Shige’s hands ball up into fists at this sides, “Not even half the rent! And you’re too picky about food for shopping, and… and I’m not a maid! And-“
“Okay, okay.” Ryo raises his hands. “I get it. You want to keep your apartment. Fine.”
“Ryo!” And it seems like Shige’s actually getting offended with the conversation. “It’s not just about keeping it! You don’t understand at all!”
Ryo frowns, because he doesn’t get it and now he knows that.
Some how, Shige ends up staying the night. Ryo’s not sure how that happened, and he’s not sure he’s happy about it either - and that’s the strange part. Shige does eventually move away from the table, back towards the center of the apartment, but he eyes Ryo nervously all night, like that conversation is suddenly going to pick up again. Shige goes to sleep early like he wanted and Ryo feels weird and doesn’t want to disturb him, so he procrastinates on going to bed. He fiddles around his computer and works on lyrics and when he gets a message from Pi at around 1am and he’s awake to read it, he realizes he should go to sleep. The door to the bedroom is still open, only a few inches. Probably because Shige had felt odd about closing Ryo out of his own bedroom. Ryo ends up sleeping on the couch.
In the morning, Ryo wakes up when Shige gets up, but he stays lying on the couch and doesn’t really move. He watches Shige get a cup out of the cupboard, holding it carefully and placing it on the counter before pouring hot water into it to make tea. Shige’s treats everything delicately, like it’s expensive, even when he knows it’s not, and Ryo had never realized that before. When he’s done with the tea, Shige takes a banana from the bowl on the counter, but it’s one from near the bottom that’s a little brown - the kind Ryo will let rot before he eats it. After Shige leaves, Ryo wishes he’d slept through the whole thing, because all it did make obvious that Shige treated Ryo’s kitchen like it wasn’t his own. He groans into the couch and doesn’t move to the bed - he’s worried about Shige’s residual warmth haunting him.
He has work, but during his lunch break, he chooses to call his sister instead of going out with Hina and Maru.
“Ryo-chan! Hi! It’s been so long since you’ve called!”
“I have a confession.”
“Wha- Oh, okay.”
“I’m seeing a guy right now.”
“Like… in front of you?”
“I’m seeing a guy and want him to move in with me.”
Silence, and then, “Oh my God! You’re seeing a guy! That one from the magazine!!”
“And now that that part’s over, I need your help.”
“Does Dad know? Wait, of course he doesn’t. If Dad knew, he’d be dead.”
“Or I would be. But I need your help.”
“That or a murder-suicide… Ryo, swear you will never tell Dad. I couldn’t deal with that.”
“Focus! I need your help!”
“Oh, okay. What’s up?”
“I want him to move in with me.”
“You’re so cute.”
“But he doesn’t want to.”
“I need to come up to Tokyo and meet him.”
“How do I get him to?”
Ryo’s sister sighs. “Ryo-chan… You can’t force him to move in with you. Things like this… you have to be careful. I’ve seen a lot of relationships end because of arguments stemming from the move-in conversation.”
“But I want him to move in. He spends most of his time at my place anyways.”
“Ryo-chan, I’m really happy that you’ve found some one who you connect with so well, but… He might just not be ready for it. Moving in together is a big step. It’s a lot more work. You think you know him now, but once he moves in you’ll find out about all the weird little things he does in his own space, and I’m sure at least one of them will annoy you. …. He might spend most of his time at your place, which makes his look useless, but for him, it’s probably like a security blanket. It’s a space that’s all his. When you live with some one, you’re completely vulnerable.”
Ryo frowns. “Do you want me to be happy or not?”
“Of course! But if you guys break-up because you were too hasty about it then you’ll be in a horrible mood for months! But listen, Ryo-chan, him not wanting to move in doesn’t really mean too much. You might have just surprised him. Don’t… Don’t doubt him okay?"
Ryo agrees, and then bids his sister goodbye, going back to work.
-- -- --
In the evening, Shige’s back. Ryo isn’t sure if it’s because he wants to be there or he feels obligated to be there or if he’s worried Ryo’s upset. It’s awkward all night. They sit together on the couch and watch TV, but there’s a blatant space between them. Neither addresses it. Later, they lie in bed, each on their own side. Ryo feels like the guilty party, since he was one with The Plan and brought it up in the first place. Maybe his sister was right - he was rushing things.
“I surprised you, didn’t I? You didn’t see it coming?”
Shige doesn’t immediately reply, and Ryo thinks he’s asleep, until he replies, quietly, “I didn’t.”
“I was serious, you know. Even if you don’t want to… I was serious.”
“I know…”
Ryo turns on his side. “Shige?”
“I like things how they are now. I like waking up here and going to class or work and coming back. But sometimes… I need peace and quiet. I need some space. And while I’m gone, I miss you and know this is where I like to be.”
“I can get a bigger place. With room for you to have a study, or something.”
“Ryo-chan.”
“Just so you know. If you wanted me to, I would.”
Shige turns on his side, a hand on Ryo’s cheek. “Everything’s perfect. Let’s not disturb it.”
-- -- --
They both wake up abnormally early for some reason and decide to go out for breakfast. There’s a little café on the next block, and at this time, it’s nearly empty. Just a middle aged guy reading a business paper and a barista who’s basically asleep on her feet. Ryo gets a cappuccino and Shige a black coffee with cream; they split a pastry that has strawberry filling. Ryo lets Shige eat most of it. He tries to play footsie under the table, but Shige kicks him. Ryo smiles and drinks some of Shige’s coffee even though he still has half his cappuccino left. As they’re leaving, Ryo wipes some of the strawberry stuff off Shige’s chin with his finger and eats it. Shige laughs quietly and Ryo steps closer. In the elevator, Shige yawns and puts his head on Ryo’s shoulder. They hold hands as Ryo leads the way down the hallway, and don’t let go even when they’re back in the apartment. Shige smiles and Ryo can’t help but agree that everything’s perfect.