A raindrop for astrangestorm!
Nov. 9th, 2021 03:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormies posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
stormyexchangeTitle: Charmed, I’m Sure
Pairings: Sakurai Sho/Matsumoto Jun, Ohno Satoshi/Aiba Masaki (background)
Genres: Romance, Alternate Universe – Casual Magic, Alternate Universe – Modern Setting
Rating: PG
Summary: Sho is rescued from an especially annoying mall salesman by a handsome stranger, and they strike up a flirtation. Set in a modern AU where magic is a part of everyday life.
Warnings: None
A/N: Thank you to my sister, who helped me develop this story and patiently let me bounce ideas off of her for so, so, so many hours, and thank you to Oviparous for beta reading!
~~~~
Sho fiddled impatiently with his lanyard. He’d been stuck for ten minutes now listening to an aggressive pitch from a mall kiosk worker about a phone plan he just could not miss out on. The sales guy had accosted him with an over-practiced smile and a slick, insistent voice that bulldozed right past his feeble attempts to get away. Sho helplessly watched his lunch break tick away, wishing he’d talked Nino into joining him, and considering making a very undignified break for it.
The sales guy was going on about drop-resistant enchantments and protection from ley-line interference for the fourth time when someone called out “Sakurai-kun! There you are!” Sho glanced up to see an attractive stranger approaching them. He cast a bewildered look towards the newcomer, who winked conspiratorially at him. Catching on, Sho nodded back tentatively.
Once he reached them, the stranger continued in a tone that brooked no argument. “We’ve been waiting for you to join us, come, let’s go get seated.”
The kiosk worker glared daggers at them as the mystery man took a relieved Sho by the elbow and steered him towards a floating cafe in the junction between two mall corridors. The stranger didn't spare a backwards glance. He guided Sho towards a table in the cafe where two other men awaited them, waving enthusiastically.
“Sorry about that,” his savior said in a more conversational voice once they reached the table, “I’m Matsumoto Jun.” He gestured at his companions. “We saw you being held hostage at that obnoxious kiosk, so we staged a rescue.”
“How did you know my name?” Sho asked.
One of the other two raised his hand. “Zoomed in on your employee ID with my phone camera,” he said proudly.
“That’s uh…” Sho trailed off.
“Creepy,” Matsumoto supplied with a crooked grin. “It’s ok, you can say that it was creepy.”
“I mean, I can’t exactly argue with your results, even if it was kinda creepy,” Sho admitted with a weak smile, eliciting a laugh from his newfound companions.
With the ice now broken, Sho found himself beginning to relax. Matsumoto introduced his two friends as Aiba Masaki (the one with the phone camera) and Ohno Satoshi.
“I mostly grabbed you to get you away from that slimy sales guy,” said Matsumoto, “but if you want you really are welcome to join us. We were about to order.”
Sho hesitated only for a moment before deciding that there was no downside to sharing a meal with someone who would go out of his way to help a complete stranger, and who was handsome to boot. “Thanks,” he said, dropping into the remaining empty chair, “I came to the mall for my lunch break and by now I don’t want to spend any more time deciding what to get.”
After a brief glance through the menu and some back-and-forth about splitting side dishes, they placed their orders with the waitress.
“So how do you guys cope with the kiosk workers?” Sho asked, “My employer just moved to the offices above the mall, so I haven’t been here a whole lot yet.”
Ohno answered first. “They don’t really like me,” he said, “I end up spacing out on them and asking them to repeat themselves, and eventually they give up.” His tone was dreamy, but Sho detected a hint of smugness beneath it.
“Me, I just ignore them,” said Jun (he’d insisted that Jun was fine while they were making introductions), “I don’t care how rude I look, what they’re doing is ruder.”
“They’re also scared of you Matsujun,” Aiba chimed in helpfully.
“Yeah well, having a resting bitch face has its upsides on occasion.”
“You don’t have a resting bitch face!” Sho protested, “Your face is really nice!” Jun coughed and reddened slightly, and Sho abruptly realized how he sounded. “That is- I mean- Uh…” he stammered, looking for a way out. “Aiba-san!” he said a little too loudly, drawing startled glances from a couple of nearby tables, “How do you deal with those salespeople?”
“Oh,” said Aiba blithely, “They’re all banned from talking to me. Got a picture of my face there and everything.”
“This one,” Jun spoke up, regaining his composure, “charmed the pants off them. Not literally,” he added, seeing Sho’s raised eyebrow, “I just mean that he was his natural lovable self, and they were so taken with him that they piled tons of discounts on the phone they sold him and it ended up being basically free. Didn’t even remember to tie it into one of those shady contracts that locks you into an awful phone plan for however many years!”
That sounded about right, Sho realized. Earlier while they were hashing out their orders, Aiba had slipped seamlessly into calling him “Sho-chan” despite meeting him only moments prior, and it hadn't even registered to Sho as odd to be called that so soon.
Aiba beamed. “See? Excellent phone camera!” Then he giggled and added, “Also, both the sales guy and his manager lady slipped their phone numbers into the box.”
Sho noticed that at that last statement Ohno curled his hand lightly around Aiba’s forearm, and Aiba unconsciously leaned into Ohno’s touch.
Their orders arrived, and the conversation ebbed for a while as they divvied out shared dishes and dug into their meals. The food was quite good, and Sho decided he’d definitely come back here again. Next time he’d drag Nino along regardless of how much he protested about wanting to game on his lunch break (he made a mental note to come from a different direction to avoid the cell phone kiosk).
Once they’d taken the edge off their appetites and slowed down a bit, Jun turned to him. “So, Sakurai-san, you mentioned that you’re new around here. What do you do for a living?”
“Oh, I didn’t come from that far,” Sho replied, “It’s only about 20 minutes away from our old place, we just had plenty of places to get lunch over there so I never really came out here.” He set down his fork and reached for his water glass. “I assess new integrations between magic and technology to make sure they meet safety standards before they can go on the market. It sounds incredibly dry, but it’s actually really interesting. You wouldn’t believe some of the weird shit I’ve seen.”
Aiba perked up. “Wait, you’re a magitech surveyor?” he asked around a mouthful of salad, “That makes you basically my arch nemesis!”
Jun and Ohno both stifled chuckles, exchanging glances and watching the two of them with great interest.
“Why, what do you do?” asked Sho warily, suddenly worried that he’d somehow ended up sharing a friendly lunch with criminals.
“I’m a magitech developer!” Aiba made a face that Sho supposed was meant to be a glare, but the effect was ruined by a barely-restrained laugh. “You guys are like the bane of my existence! The guy who normally oversees my lab, Okada, he’s such a hardass about this stuff. One little liquid nitrogen mishap and he buries us in paperwork for a week!”
Sho interrupted Aiba’s tirade. “Wait, Okada Junichi?” he asked incredulously.
Aiba nodded. “You know him?”
“His office is down the hall from mine. We go to karaoke together sometimes.”
For some reason this sent Jun and Ohno into fresh peals of laughter, Ohno burying his face in Aiba’s shoulder and Jun throwing his head back and clapping.
“That’s him! I can’t believe mister no-fun-allowed goes to karaoke!” exclaimed Aiba, as though the very idea offended him.
Sho found himself getting drawn into the other two’s contagious amusement, and he abruptly realized something. “Hang on. Hang on a second,” he said, waving his hands for respite. “I thought I’d heard the name Aiba before. You’re the guy who keeps blowing up his lab, aren’t you?”
Ohno and Jun were wheezing by that point, clutching their stomachs with tears streaming down their faces. Sho wasn’t far behind them as he watched Aiba process his sentence. Aiba, at least, had the decency to look sheepish.
“They weren’t explosions! They were… controlled detonations, and it was only twice… in the last month,” Aiba trailed off sullenly before abandoning the pretense and joining in on their laughter.
Eventually after regaining a bit of composure, Sho took pity on Aiba and diverted the conversation. “Since we’re sharing what we do for a living, what do you two do?” he asked, facing Ohno and Jun.
Jun was still wiping his eyes and catching his breath, so Ohno piped up. “I do water art performances.” Sho gave him a confused look, and Aiba gently nudged Ohno to elaborate. “You know those things they have at cultural festivals near big bodies of water sometimes, where the water takes on all different shapes and lights up in different colors? Like a moving sculpture?”
“Oh wow,” Sho said, eyes wide, “I’ve only been to see those in person a few times in my life, although I’ve watched some on youtube too. There are only like four people in the country who can do that, right?”
“Yeah” Ohno mumbled, seemingly out of steam after saying so many words in a row. Aiba wound an arm around his waist and smiled proudly.
These people were incredible, Sho thought, and also incredibly weird. He had to introduce Nino to this odd bunch, he’d have a blast with them.
“I’m a stunt coordinator,” said Jun, answering Sho’s expectant stare, “Nothing as glamorous as Inspector General Hardass or Serial Lab Exploder, but my job has its charms too.”
“Wait really?” Sho asked excitedly, “That’s so cool, do you work on TV shows and movies and stuff?”
“Among other things,” Jun said, suddenly expressionless, “Why? Are you hoping I’ll introduce you to celebrities?”
“No, no! Nothing like that!” said Sho quickly, “I always loved that stuff as a kid, I even thought of making a career out of it! You know,” he rambled on, punctuating his sentence with aimless gestures, “fight scenes and big set pieces and stuff like that.”
Jun pursed his lips and quirked an eyebrow at him, and it dawned on Sho that he was being teased. He fixed Jun with a reproachful stare, and Jun finally cracked, snorting and grinning widely.
“I was just trying to see how long you’d keep that up,” he admitted, “You’re cute when you’re flustered.” Jun spoke with an air of easy confidence, but Sho spied a small flush creeping up his cheeks.
Sho felt heat rise in his own cheeks and let out a nervous chuckle. Damn, this guy really did have a good face. Good everything else, too, from the looks of it.
“I’m serious though,” he pressed on, “When all my friends were talking about the cool weapons and big spells I would sit there analyzing the fight sequences to try and figure out how they did it without actually hurting each other.” In a rush of impulsivity he burst out “I’d love to go out sometime and hear more about what you do, if you’re up for it.”
It was Jun’s turn to blush, and then to shoot a brief glare towards Aiba and Ohno, who were doing their best to sound like a pair of schoolgirls, oohing and ahhing as though watching a drama.
“Yeah… yeah, that sounds nice,” said Jun, suddenly shy. “I have to warn you though, my schedule is kind of weird because of my job. Ohno’s too, since he travels a lot. That’s why the three of us meet on the rare occasion that our free time lines up perfectly.”
Seeing Jun’s shyness helped Sho’s own nerves calm down somewhat. If he was shy too, then there was something to be shy about.
“We’ll figure something out,” Sho said confidently.
~~~~
When Sho got back to work, he found Nino sitting in his chair with his feet propped up on the desk, the remnants of a takeout lunch scattered around him.
“Well, looks like someone’s had a good break!” Nino commented playfully.
“You really should have come,” Sho chided him, “Way better than takeout, and you don’t have to hide in here to get away from Maruyama’s microwaved fish stinking up all the cubicles in your department.”
Nino shrugged. “Too many people and too much noise,” he said, “Besides, if you like the mall that means I can hide in here more often.”
“You know you’re welcome here for your break even if I’m still here right?” said Sho, “This new office has enough room for an extra chair and that never stopped you at the old place anyway.”
“Yeah, but this way I get to play my games out loud and sit in your fancy ergonomic chair, I think that’s a fair exchange for not having the pleasure of your company, delightful as that may be.”
“A lot of the places at this mall have noise suppressant charms.” Sho retorted, rolling his eyes fondly. “And you love people watching, don’t try that on me!”
“Fancy!” Nino raised his eyebrows. “I bet those places are pricier than the restaurants near our old place though.”
“Ah, you’re hopeless,” Sho chucked, “I’ll get you to come with me eventually.”
Nino squinted at Sho and leaned forward, swinging his feet back down to the floor. “You don’t get this defensive about my lunch choices,” he smiled slyly, “What’s this actually about?”
Sho had been about ready to burst with the news anyway, so he was happy for the opening. “I met some really cool people there, and I might have a date this weekend!” he said proudly.
“In the span of a one-hour lunch break? Nice going!” Nino looked impressed and held up a hand for a high-five. “How’d that happen?”
Sho returned the high five and then sheepishly began to recount how he got ambushed by the guy at the mall kiosk and then rescued by his very own knight in shining armor, Matsumoto Jun. Nino cackled riotously about the situation Sho stumbled sideways into, and asked probing questions about Matsumoto that made Sho blush furiously all the way to his scalp. Sho showed him the LINE group that Aiba had created for the four of them, entitled “FLOATING LUNCH BROS!!” followed an incoherent string of emojis probably added by Ohno.
“You’re absolutely right,” Nino admitted, “These people sound like a riot, I definitely need to meet them.”
~~~~
The air whipped around Sho as he strode towards the pub, nipping at his cheeks and nose with a bracing autumn chill. He spotted Jun waiting for him outside with his shoulders drawn in and his hands shoved in his pockets, shifting from one foot to the other to ward off the cold.
“You’re early!” Sho called out to him.
Jun looked up and when he saw Sho approaching his face brightened. “I didn’t mean to be,” he said once Sho had gotten close enough that he didn’t have to shout over the wind, “I planned for a ton of traffic and I found parking way more easily than I expected.”
“Not the worst problem to have,” Sho put on what he hoped was his most charming smile and tilted his head towards the door. “Shall we?”
“Yes please, I’m freezing!” Jun immediately turned towards the pub entrance and moved towards it in tiny steps.
The way Jun was shuffling was so unexpectedly cute that Sho had to stop short for a moment to collect himself. The first time they’d met, Jun had been confident and suave and attractive, but Sho had not anticipated that Jun could also be this adorable. Once inside the bar, Jun rubbed his hands together and puffed hot air between them as they waited for the hostess to seat them. Sho was tempted to take Jun’s hands with his own to warm them up, but this early on what was their first maybe-date it felt a little too forward. Next time, he promised himself, if there ended up being a next time.
They were quickly shown to a small U-shaped booth with heated seats, and Jun slid in to sit across from Sho with a relieved sigh. Sho looked at Jun inquisitively.
“It’s not that cold out yet, are you feeling alright?”
“Ah,” replied Jun, “I’m fine, I’m just super sensitive to the cold. I always end up fighting my coworkers for control of the thermostat.”
“Well,” said Sho, leaning forward slightly, “you should know that I’m an excellent cuddler, especially in the cooler months.”
Jun stared at him dumbstruck for a fraction of a second before bursting out in delighted giggles. “Wow, you don’t waste any time do you? I took you for the type to tiptoe around flirting until at least three drinks in!”
“Oh I totally am that type,” Sho confessed, “I had to get that line out really fast before my brain caught up, or you’d stuck with the neurotic version of me that tries so hard to play it cool that I never take any risks.”
“Then I’m glad I got the impulsive Sho-san,” said Jun, leaning in to mirror Sho’s pose. “I might have to take you up on that cuddle offer one of these days.”
Their hands were nearly touching. Sho felt a small thrill run through him, but he resisted the temptation to close the gap so early on in the night. Though their chemistry was undeniable, Sho didn’t want to jump straight into something physical. He was no stranger to short-lived friendly romps, but Jun was intriguing, and Sho hoped that there was potential to have something more substantial together.
He uncurled his clasped hands, letting his fingers brush lightly against Jun’s before reaching for a menu.
“Now then,” Sho said, “what do you want to drink tonight?”
Jun was incredibly easy to talk to. They discovered that they had a lot in common- both loved soccer, abhorred coriander, and were really particular about doing their jobs exactly right (“I get called fussy a lot by the clients I inspect” “Sometimes the really difficult actors will call me anal” “What, to your face?” “Nah, they don’t dare. But nothing can be hidden from me on my set”). Jun was also his complete opposite in some surprising ways. Jun loved skydiving and bungee jumping and other extreme activities, whereas Sho couldn’t even handle a VR rollercoaster. The contrast made for some excellent conversation- they flitted from topic to topic, getting progressively more tipsy as the hours flew by.
“The thing is though,” Jun was saying “those stupid anti-injury belts right? Everyone and their cousin in the industry goes on about how awesome those things are for shooting action scenes, but I hate them!” He emphasized his last line by clapping a hand to his thigh, and then took another swig from his mostly empty beer glass.
The two of them had been edging slowly closer to the center of the booth as the night went on, and by now they were nearly sitting side by side, rather than across the table where they started. The table was littered with empty edamame pods and yakitori skewers, and they were working on their fourth or fifth round of beer. Sho didn’t think either one of them was drunk quite yet, but they were both well on their way there, faces flushed and suit jackets tossed haphazardly on the seats beside them. Jun, apparently, got ranty when his inhibitions were a bit lowered.
“In my studio,” Jun continued, “We use anti-injury mats. Good, old-fashioned, basically indestructible mats. So like, the mats can hold way stronger enchantments because of how big they are, right? And since most injuries are fall-related, they protect directly at the point of impact. Waaaayyyyy more energy efficient.” Jun paused to scratch the back of his neck. “Those belts though? They have to be really lightweight so you can move in them, and since they’re not at the point of contact they have to like, project like a protective field around the wearer the whole time. It’s so friggin’ wasteful!” He scrunched his nose disdainfully. “My mats though, those things could survive a nuclear bomb!”
Sho hummed and nodded emphatically in agreement, admiring Jun’s profile in the warm pub lighting. He had his own gripes about the fallacies of modern magitech to share, but he was content to listen to Jun as he said his piece before bringing up his own experiences. Besides, he enjoyed seeing how passionate Jun was about his work.
“I mean like… like the belts are fine when you’re actually shooting a scene, you know? That’s good, you can hide them under a costume or whatever.” Jun huffed, seeming peeved at having to acknowledge any positive sides to the subject of his ire. “But the enchantments are way weaker, and they wear off if you don’t renew the spell every like… every like three months. Three months!” He thumped his hand on his thigh again. “And you have to pay some overpriced hack who only knows how to work on stuff made by his own company, right? Because getting an independent practitioner to do it violates the friggin’ terms of use. My mats though? The enchantment lasts for years before it needs any upkeep, and then any damn practitioner with the right kind of magic can do it, easy as plugging in your phone!”
Jun slumped back in his seat and sulkily took another sip of beer, having temporarily run out of steam.
“Subscription model magitech is a pain in my ass in general,” Sho chimed in. “Used to be that you’d buy something and that’s it, it works, it’s yours forever, yeah? Now everything is like your belt situation.”
“Yeah, totally!” Jun pulled a face.
“Stupid profit driven tech. Back in the day it was about innovation,” Sho groused, starting to get worked up himself, “making stuff that, ugh, that’s like juuuuuust useful enough that people will buy it but like sssssoooo, so breakable. They trap you in it, ‘cuz then you just have to keep paying and paying for it.”
Jun made an encouraging noise, sliding over in his seat until he was almost touching Sho, watching him intently. Sho felt a tingle run up his spine and continued on, energized.
“We tried to legislate against this shit. We tried! But they’re making bank with this crappy model, and now so many industries are jumping on it. Everything is microtransactions and licensing and shit, I just want to own what I buy, dammit!”
They were both quiet for a few moments, sharing in their companionable indignation, and then abruptly Jun dissolved into giggles, running a hand over his face.
“Ahh, listen to us! Pair of old farts, the two of us,” he managed to get out.
Sho started to crack up as well. “Next thing you know we’ll be telling kids to get off our lawn!” he wheezed, putting a hand on Jun’s shoulder to steady himself.
Jun jumped slightly at the contact, and then carefully rested his hand lightly on Sho’s waist. Traces of laughter still lingering on his cheeks, but the mood subtly shifted between them. They exchanged an electrifying look that made Sho’s breath catch in his throat.
“So…” Sho cast around for the right thing to say that wouldn’t kill the mood. “Do you want to order a couple of shots of sobriety and then maybe the two of us can get out of here? I hear they added new flavors.” He straightened up slightly, careful not to break the contact between them.
To his surprise, Jun declined the sobriety shots. “Those things make my scalp itch,” he explained, and then took a deep breath and regarded Sho intently. “Besides, I think I still need to be tipsy.”
“You… do?” asked Sho, heart hammering in his throat.
“Yeah, I need to have the courage to do this,” Jun said, and then leaned in to plant a slightly messy kiss on Sho’s lips.
Sho responded eagerly, sliding his hand down to the small of Jun’s back and tilting his torso to face Jun more fully and deepen the kiss. The kiss was heated but unhurried, they took their time exploring the contours of each others’ lips and learning each others’ rhythms.
When they eventually drew apart, Sho smiled playfully, still close enough that he couldn’t see Jun’s whole face. “If I knew talking about product legislation would get you all hot and bothered, I’d probably have led with that.”
Jun let out a surprised high-pitched “Ha!” and dropped his head down to rest on Sho’s shoulder. Sho seized the opportunity and put his other arm around Jun, drawing him closer and dipping his head to meet Jun’s lips again. They kissed for some time longer, but eventually a waiter came around to inform them that it was the last call for the night, and, scrupulously ignoring their mussed hair and uneven breathing, asked if either one of them wanted to order anything.
The waiter brought Sho a cherry flavored sobriety shot, and when Jun took out his phone to order an Uber, Sho insisted on driving him home instead. Jun offered only a token “oh no, I wouldn’t want to impose” resistance before he gave in and contentedly leaned back onto Sho’s shoulder as they waited for the sobriety spell to kick in.
Given their unequal degrees of drunkenness, they didn’t go any further that night, but Jun managed to sneak in a quick peck on Sho’s cheek as he was dropping him off. Sho drove home in a buoyant whirl of anticipation for what looked to be the start of something incredible.
~~~~
Pairings: Sakurai Sho/Matsumoto Jun, Ohno Satoshi/Aiba Masaki (background)
Genres: Romance, Alternate Universe – Casual Magic, Alternate Universe – Modern Setting
Rating: PG
Summary: Sho is rescued from an especially annoying mall salesman by a handsome stranger, and they strike up a flirtation. Set in a modern AU where magic is a part of everyday life.
Warnings: None
A/N: Thank you to my sister, who helped me develop this story and patiently let me bounce ideas off of her for so, so, so many hours, and thank you to Oviparous for beta reading!
~~~~
Sho fiddled impatiently with his lanyard. He’d been stuck for ten minutes now listening to an aggressive pitch from a mall kiosk worker about a phone plan he just could not miss out on. The sales guy had accosted him with an over-practiced smile and a slick, insistent voice that bulldozed right past his feeble attempts to get away. Sho helplessly watched his lunch break tick away, wishing he’d talked Nino into joining him, and considering making a very undignified break for it.
The sales guy was going on about drop-resistant enchantments and protection from ley-line interference for the fourth time when someone called out “Sakurai-kun! There you are!” Sho glanced up to see an attractive stranger approaching them. He cast a bewildered look towards the newcomer, who winked conspiratorially at him. Catching on, Sho nodded back tentatively.
Once he reached them, the stranger continued in a tone that brooked no argument. “We’ve been waiting for you to join us, come, let’s go get seated.”
The kiosk worker glared daggers at them as the mystery man took a relieved Sho by the elbow and steered him towards a floating cafe in the junction between two mall corridors. The stranger didn't spare a backwards glance. He guided Sho towards a table in the cafe where two other men awaited them, waving enthusiastically.
“Sorry about that,” his savior said in a more conversational voice once they reached the table, “I’m Matsumoto Jun.” He gestured at his companions. “We saw you being held hostage at that obnoxious kiosk, so we staged a rescue.”
“How did you know my name?” Sho asked.
One of the other two raised his hand. “Zoomed in on your employee ID with my phone camera,” he said proudly.
“That’s uh…” Sho trailed off.
“Creepy,” Matsumoto supplied with a crooked grin. “It’s ok, you can say that it was creepy.”
“I mean, I can’t exactly argue with your results, even if it was kinda creepy,” Sho admitted with a weak smile, eliciting a laugh from his newfound companions.
With the ice now broken, Sho found himself beginning to relax. Matsumoto introduced his two friends as Aiba Masaki (the one with the phone camera) and Ohno Satoshi.
“I mostly grabbed you to get you away from that slimy sales guy,” said Matsumoto, “but if you want you really are welcome to join us. We were about to order.”
Sho hesitated only for a moment before deciding that there was no downside to sharing a meal with someone who would go out of his way to help a complete stranger, and who was handsome to boot. “Thanks,” he said, dropping into the remaining empty chair, “I came to the mall for my lunch break and by now I don’t want to spend any more time deciding what to get.”
After a brief glance through the menu and some back-and-forth about splitting side dishes, they placed their orders with the waitress.
“So how do you guys cope with the kiosk workers?” Sho asked, “My employer just moved to the offices above the mall, so I haven’t been here a whole lot yet.”
Ohno answered first. “They don’t really like me,” he said, “I end up spacing out on them and asking them to repeat themselves, and eventually they give up.” His tone was dreamy, but Sho detected a hint of smugness beneath it.
“Me, I just ignore them,” said Jun (he’d insisted that Jun was fine while they were making introductions), “I don’t care how rude I look, what they’re doing is ruder.”
“They’re also scared of you Matsujun,” Aiba chimed in helpfully.
“Yeah well, having a resting bitch face has its upsides on occasion.”
“You don’t have a resting bitch face!” Sho protested, “Your face is really nice!” Jun coughed and reddened slightly, and Sho abruptly realized how he sounded. “That is- I mean- Uh…” he stammered, looking for a way out. “Aiba-san!” he said a little too loudly, drawing startled glances from a couple of nearby tables, “How do you deal with those salespeople?”
“Oh,” said Aiba blithely, “They’re all banned from talking to me. Got a picture of my face there and everything.”
“This one,” Jun spoke up, regaining his composure, “charmed the pants off them. Not literally,” he added, seeing Sho’s raised eyebrow, “I just mean that he was his natural lovable self, and they were so taken with him that they piled tons of discounts on the phone they sold him and it ended up being basically free. Didn’t even remember to tie it into one of those shady contracts that locks you into an awful phone plan for however many years!”
That sounded about right, Sho realized. Earlier while they were hashing out their orders, Aiba had slipped seamlessly into calling him “Sho-chan” despite meeting him only moments prior, and it hadn't even registered to Sho as odd to be called that so soon.
Aiba beamed. “See? Excellent phone camera!” Then he giggled and added, “Also, both the sales guy and his manager lady slipped their phone numbers into the box.”
Sho noticed that at that last statement Ohno curled his hand lightly around Aiba’s forearm, and Aiba unconsciously leaned into Ohno’s touch.
Their orders arrived, and the conversation ebbed for a while as they divvied out shared dishes and dug into their meals. The food was quite good, and Sho decided he’d definitely come back here again. Next time he’d drag Nino along regardless of how much he protested about wanting to game on his lunch break (he made a mental note to come from a different direction to avoid the cell phone kiosk).
Once they’d taken the edge off their appetites and slowed down a bit, Jun turned to him. “So, Sakurai-san, you mentioned that you’re new around here. What do you do for a living?”
“Oh, I didn’t come from that far,” Sho replied, “It’s only about 20 minutes away from our old place, we just had plenty of places to get lunch over there so I never really came out here.” He set down his fork and reached for his water glass. “I assess new integrations between magic and technology to make sure they meet safety standards before they can go on the market. It sounds incredibly dry, but it’s actually really interesting. You wouldn’t believe some of the weird shit I’ve seen.”
Aiba perked up. “Wait, you’re a magitech surveyor?” he asked around a mouthful of salad, “That makes you basically my arch nemesis!”
Jun and Ohno both stifled chuckles, exchanging glances and watching the two of them with great interest.
“Why, what do you do?” asked Sho warily, suddenly worried that he’d somehow ended up sharing a friendly lunch with criminals.
“I’m a magitech developer!” Aiba made a face that Sho supposed was meant to be a glare, but the effect was ruined by a barely-restrained laugh. “You guys are like the bane of my existence! The guy who normally oversees my lab, Okada, he’s such a hardass about this stuff. One little liquid nitrogen mishap and he buries us in paperwork for a week!”
Sho interrupted Aiba’s tirade. “Wait, Okada Junichi?” he asked incredulously.
Aiba nodded. “You know him?”
“His office is down the hall from mine. We go to karaoke together sometimes.”
For some reason this sent Jun and Ohno into fresh peals of laughter, Ohno burying his face in Aiba’s shoulder and Jun throwing his head back and clapping.
“That’s him! I can’t believe mister no-fun-allowed goes to karaoke!” exclaimed Aiba, as though the very idea offended him.
Sho found himself getting drawn into the other two’s contagious amusement, and he abruptly realized something. “Hang on. Hang on a second,” he said, waving his hands for respite. “I thought I’d heard the name Aiba before. You’re the guy who keeps blowing up his lab, aren’t you?”
Ohno and Jun were wheezing by that point, clutching their stomachs with tears streaming down their faces. Sho wasn’t far behind them as he watched Aiba process his sentence. Aiba, at least, had the decency to look sheepish.
“They weren’t explosions! They were… controlled detonations, and it was only twice… in the last month,” Aiba trailed off sullenly before abandoning the pretense and joining in on their laughter.
Eventually after regaining a bit of composure, Sho took pity on Aiba and diverted the conversation. “Since we’re sharing what we do for a living, what do you two do?” he asked, facing Ohno and Jun.
Jun was still wiping his eyes and catching his breath, so Ohno piped up. “I do water art performances.” Sho gave him a confused look, and Aiba gently nudged Ohno to elaborate. “You know those things they have at cultural festivals near big bodies of water sometimes, where the water takes on all different shapes and lights up in different colors? Like a moving sculpture?”
“Oh wow,” Sho said, eyes wide, “I’ve only been to see those in person a few times in my life, although I’ve watched some on youtube too. There are only like four people in the country who can do that, right?”
“Yeah” Ohno mumbled, seemingly out of steam after saying so many words in a row. Aiba wound an arm around his waist and smiled proudly.
These people were incredible, Sho thought, and also incredibly weird. He had to introduce Nino to this odd bunch, he’d have a blast with them.
“I’m a stunt coordinator,” said Jun, answering Sho’s expectant stare, “Nothing as glamorous as Inspector General Hardass or Serial Lab Exploder, but my job has its charms too.”
“Wait really?” Sho asked excitedly, “That’s so cool, do you work on TV shows and movies and stuff?”
“Among other things,” Jun said, suddenly expressionless, “Why? Are you hoping I’ll introduce you to celebrities?”
“No, no! Nothing like that!” said Sho quickly, “I always loved that stuff as a kid, I even thought of making a career out of it! You know,” he rambled on, punctuating his sentence with aimless gestures, “fight scenes and big set pieces and stuff like that.”
Jun pursed his lips and quirked an eyebrow at him, and it dawned on Sho that he was being teased. He fixed Jun with a reproachful stare, and Jun finally cracked, snorting and grinning widely.
“I was just trying to see how long you’d keep that up,” he admitted, “You’re cute when you’re flustered.” Jun spoke with an air of easy confidence, but Sho spied a small flush creeping up his cheeks.
Sho felt heat rise in his own cheeks and let out a nervous chuckle. Damn, this guy really did have a good face. Good everything else, too, from the looks of it.
“I’m serious though,” he pressed on, “When all my friends were talking about the cool weapons and big spells I would sit there analyzing the fight sequences to try and figure out how they did it without actually hurting each other.” In a rush of impulsivity he burst out “I’d love to go out sometime and hear more about what you do, if you’re up for it.”
It was Jun’s turn to blush, and then to shoot a brief glare towards Aiba and Ohno, who were doing their best to sound like a pair of schoolgirls, oohing and ahhing as though watching a drama.
“Yeah… yeah, that sounds nice,” said Jun, suddenly shy. “I have to warn you though, my schedule is kind of weird because of my job. Ohno’s too, since he travels a lot. That’s why the three of us meet on the rare occasion that our free time lines up perfectly.”
Seeing Jun’s shyness helped Sho’s own nerves calm down somewhat. If he was shy too, then there was something to be shy about.
“We’ll figure something out,” Sho said confidently.
~~~~
When Sho got back to work, he found Nino sitting in his chair with his feet propped up on the desk, the remnants of a takeout lunch scattered around him.
“Well, looks like someone’s had a good break!” Nino commented playfully.
“You really should have come,” Sho chided him, “Way better than takeout, and you don’t have to hide in here to get away from Maruyama’s microwaved fish stinking up all the cubicles in your department.”
Nino shrugged. “Too many people and too much noise,” he said, “Besides, if you like the mall that means I can hide in here more often.”
“You know you’re welcome here for your break even if I’m still here right?” said Sho, “This new office has enough room for an extra chair and that never stopped you at the old place anyway.”
“Yeah, but this way I get to play my games out loud and sit in your fancy ergonomic chair, I think that’s a fair exchange for not having the pleasure of your company, delightful as that may be.”
“A lot of the places at this mall have noise suppressant charms.” Sho retorted, rolling his eyes fondly. “And you love people watching, don’t try that on me!”
“Fancy!” Nino raised his eyebrows. “I bet those places are pricier than the restaurants near our old place though.”
“Ah, you’re hopeless,” Sho chucked, “I’ll get you to come with me eventually.”
Nino squinted at Sho and leaned forward, swinging his feet back down to the floor. “You don’t get this defensive about my lunch choices,” he smiled slyly, “What’s this actually about?”
Sho had been about ready to burst with the news anyway, so he was happy for the opening. “I met some really cool people there, and I might have a date this weekend!” he said proudly.
“In the span of a one-hour lunch break? Nice going!” Nino looked impressed and held up a hand for a high-five. “How’d that happen?”
Sho returned the high five and then sheepishly began to recount how he got ambushed by the guy at the mall kiosk and then rescued by his very own knight in shining armor, Matsumoto Jun. Nino cackled riotously about the situation Sho stumbled sideways into, and asked probing questions about Matsumoto that made Sho blush furiously all the way to his scalp. Sho showed him the LINE group that Aiba had created for the four of them, entitled “FLOATING LUNCH BROS!!” followed an incoherent string of emojis probably added by Ohno.
“You’re absolutely right,” Nino admitted, “These people sound like a riot, I definitely need to meet them.”
~~~~
The air whipped around Sho as he strode towards the pub, nipping at his cheeks and nose with a bracing autumn chill. He spotted Jun waiting for him outside with his shoulders drawn in and his hands shoved in his pockets, shifting from one foot to the other to ward off the cold.
“You’re early!” Sho called out to him.
Jun looked up and when he saw Sho approaching his face brightened. “I didn’t mean to be,” he said once Sho had gotten close enough that he didn’t have to shout over the wind, “I planned for a ton of traffic and I found parking way more easily than I expected.”
“Not the worst problem to have,” Sho put on what he hoped was his most charming smile and tilted his head towards the door. “Shall we?”
“Yes please, I’m freezing!” Jun immediately turned towards the pub entrance and moved towards it in tiny steps.
The way Jun was shuffling was so unexpectedly cute that Sho had to stop short for a moment to collect himself. The first time they’d met, Jun had been confident and suave and attractive, but Sho had not anticipated that Jun could also be this adorable. Once inside the bar, Jun rubbed his hands together and puffed hot air between them as they waited for the hostess to seat them. Sho was tempted to take Jun’s hands with his own to warm them up, but this early on what was their first maybe-date it felt a little too forward. Next time, he promised himself, if there ended up being a next time.
They were quickly shown to a small U-shaped booth with heated seats, and Jun slid in to sit across from Sho with a relieved sigh. Sho looked at Jun inquisitively.
“It’s not that cold out yet, are you feeling alright?”
“Ah,” replied Jun, “I’m fine, I’m just super sensitive to the cold. I always end up fighting my coworkers for control of the thermostat.”
“Well,” said Sho, leaning forward slightly, “you should know that I’m an excellent cuddler, especially in the cooler months.”
Jun stared at him dumbstruck for a fraction of a second before bursting out in delighted giggles. “Wow, you don’t waste any time do you? I took you for the type to tiptoe around flirting until at least three drinks in!”
“Oh I totally am that type,” Sho confessed, “I had to get that line out really fast before my brain caught up, or you’d stuck with the neurotic version of me that tries so hard to play it cool that I never take any risks.”
“Then I’m glad I got the impulsive Sho-san,” said Jun, leaning in to mirror Sho’s pose. “I might have to take you up on that cuddle offer one of these days.”
Their hands were nearly touching. Sho felt a small thrill run through him, but he resisted the temptation to close the gap so early on in the night. Though their chemistry was undeniable, Sho didn’t want to jump straight into something physical. He was no stranger to short-lived friendly romps, but Jun was intriguing, and Sho hoped that there was potential to have something more substantial together.
He uncurled his clasped hands, letting his fingers brush lightly against Jun’s before reaching for a menu.
“Now then,” Sho said, “what do you want to drink tonight?”
Jun was incredibly easy to talk to. They discovered that they had a lot in common- both loved soccer, abhorred coriander, and were really particular about doing their jobs exactly right (“I get called fussy a lot by the clients I inspect” “Sometimes the really difficult actors will call me anal” “What, to your face?” “Nah, they don’t dare. But nothing can be hidden from me on my set”). Jun was also his complete opposite in some surprising ways. Jun loved skydiving and bungee jumping and other extreme activities, whereas Sho couldn’t even handle a VR rollercoaster. The contrast made for some excellent conversation- they flitted from topic to topic, getting progressively more tipsy as the hours flew by.
“The thing is though,” Jun was saying “those stupid anti-injury belts right? Everyone and their cousin in the industry goes on about how awesome those things are for shooting action scenes, but I hate them!” He emphasized his last line by clapping a hand to his thigh, and then took another swig from his mostly empty beer glass.
The two of them had been edging slowly closer to the center of the booth as the night went on, and by now they were nearly sitting side by side, rather than across the table where they started. The table was littered with empty edamame pods and yakitori skewers, and they were working on their fourth or fifth round of beer. Sho didn’t think either one of them was drunk quite yet, but they were both well on their way there, faces flushed and suit jackets tossed haphazardly on the seats beside them. Jun, apparently, got ranty when his inhibitions were a bit lowered.
“In my studio,” Jun continued, “We use anti-injury mats. Good, old-fashioned, basically indestructible mats. So like, the mats can hold way stronger enchantments because of how big they are, right? And since most injuries are fall-related, they protect directly at the point of impact. Waaaayyyyy more energy efficient.” Jun paused to scratch the back of his neck. “Those belts though? They have to be really lightweight so you can move in them, and since they’re not at the point of contact they have to like, project like a protective field around the wearer the whole time. It’s so friggin’ wasteful!” He scrunched his nose disdainfully. “My mats though, those things could survive a nuclear bomb!”
Sho hummed and nodded emphatically in agreement, admiring Jun’s profile in the warm pub lighting. He had his own gripes about the fallacies of modern magitech to share, but he was content to listen to Jun as he said his piece before bringing up his own experiences. Besides, he enjoyed seeing how passionate Jun was about his work.
“I mean like… like the belts are fine when you’re actually shooting a scene, you know? That’s good, you can hide them under a costume or whatever.” Jun huffed, seeming peeved at having to acknowledge any positive sides to the subject of his ire. “But the enchantments are way weaker, and they wear off if you don’t renew the spell every like… every like three months. Three months!” He thumped his hand on his thigh again. “And you have to pay some overpriced hack who only knows how to work on stuff made by his own company, right? Because getting an independent practitioner to do it violates the friggin’ terms of use. My mats though? The enchantment lasts for years before it needs any upkeep, and then any damn practitioner with the right kind of magic can do it, easy as plugging in your phone!”
Jun slumped back in his seat and sulkily took another sip of beer, having temporarily run out of steam.
“Subscription model magitech is a pain in my ass in general,” Sho chimed in. “Used to be that you’d buy something and that’s it, it works, it’s yours forever, yeah? Now everything is like your belt situation.”
“Yeah, totally!” Jun pulled a face.
“Stupid profit driven tech. Back in the day it was about innovation,” Sho groused, starting to get worked up himself, “making stuff that, ugh, that’s like juuuuuust useful enough that people will buy it but like sssssoooo, so breakable. They trap you in it, ‘cuz then you just have to keep paying and paying for it.”
Jun made an encouraging noise, sliding over in his seat until he was almost touching Sho, watching him intently. Sho felt a tingle run up his spine and continued on, energized.
“We tried to legislate against this shit. We tried! But they’re making bank with this crappy model, and now so many industries are jumping on it. Everything is microtransactions and licensing and shit, I just want to own what I buy, dammit!”
They were both quiet for a few moments, sharing in their companionable indignation, and then abruptly Jun dissolved into giggles, running a hand over his face.
“Ahh, listen to us! Pair of old farts, the two of us,” he managed to get out.
Sho started to crack up as well. “Next thing you know we’ll be telling kids to get off our lawn!” he wheezed, putting a hand on Jun’s shoulder to steady himself.
Jun jumped slightly at the contact, and then carefully rested his hand lightly on Sho’s waist. Traces of laughter still lingering on his cheeks, but the mood subtly shifted between them. They exchanged an electrifying look that made Sho’s breath catch in his throat.
“So…” Sho cast around for the right thing to say that wouldn’t kill the mood. “Do you want to order a couple of shots of sobriety and then maybe the two of us can get out of here? I hear they added new flavors.” He straightened up slightly, careful not to break the contact between them.
To his surprise, Jun declined the sobriety shots. “Those things make my scalp itch,” he explained, and then took a deep breath and regarded Sho intently. “Besides, I think I still need to be tipsy.”
“You… do?” asked Sho, heart hammering in his throat.
“Yeah, I need to have the courage to do this,” Jun said, and then leaned in to plant a slightly messy kiss on Sho’s lips.
Sho responded eagerly, sliding his hand down to the small of Jun’s back and tilting his torso to face Jun more fully and deepen the kiss. The kiss was heated but unhurried, they took their time exploring the contours of each others’ lips and learning each others’ rhythms.
When they eventually drew apart, Sho smiled playfully, still close enough that he couldn’t see Jun’s whole face. “If I knew talking about product legislation would get you all hot and bothered, I’d probably have led with that.”
Jun let out a surprised high-pitched “Ha!” and dropped his head down to rest on Sho’s shoulder. Sho seized the opportunity and put his other arm around Jun, drawing him closer and dipping his head to meet Jun’s lips again. They kissed for some time longer, but eventually a waiter came around to inform them that it was the last call for the night, and, scrupulously ignoring their mussed hair and uneven breathing, asked if either one of them wanted to order anything.
The waiter brought Sho a cherry flavored sobriety shot, and when Jun took out his phone to order an Uber, Sho insisted on driving him home instead. Jun offered only a token “oh no, I wouldn’t want to impose” resistance before he gave in and contentedly leaned back onto Sho’s shoulder as they waited for the sobriety spell to kick in.
Given their unequal degrees of drunkenness, they didn’t go any further that night, but Jun managed to sneak in a quick peck on Sho’s cheek as he was dropping him off. Sho drove home in a buoyant whirl of anticipation for what looked to be the start of something incredible.
~~~~
no subject
Date: 2021-11-10 06:11 am (UTC)I liked the strategy Aiba had to rescue Sho, and the cute meet-up the four of them shared at the mall. Loved the hinted Aiba/Ohno (unexpected but appreciated and so so welcome, so cute) and the awkward flirty Sakumoto. I liked co-worker Nino who is usually gaming no matter what universe he's in.
I'm glad Sho and Jun were able to hit it off without any angst. I love how relaxed and easygoing they were together as they got to know each other and how they can always talk about work forever and ever and ever. So very them. I like that they were a little awkward but still flirty and obviously into each other. I'm glad they both just went for it too. They seem like a great match.
Thanks so much for writing this for me! It was so light and fun and a universe that's like ours but clearly has its intriguing differences. I especially wish we had sobriety shots, but oh well <3
Your anonymous author
Date: 2021-11-10 09:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-11-12 05:28 pm (UTC)Really liked how Aiba is still in A no Arashi mode here; it totally made me cackle, imagining him causing Okada another migraine every now and then.