i have cut to the feeling on repeat

[keeptrucking]

[Scene: two losers go to a shopping mall, because Daichi was wandering around looking disappointed in himself yet again and Joe has Better Ideas Than That. Daichi can't remember if he was actually asked if he wanted to be here, or if he was simply dragged along for the ride again and couldn't refuse once they were already at the mall. Joe just happens so much at once, despite all of Daichi's half-hearted complaining, so... here they are.

At the mall. Daichi is, at least, not sulking about whatever he was feeling inadequate about before. Instead:]

Man, my feet hurt... [Here, he affects his best (worst) Joe Voice:] Let's go shopping, Daichi! It'll be fun! —It's been nearly three hours and all we have to show for it is one magazine. C'mon, you could have done this without me.

[This menace... Why is he here, Joe? Why??]

Comments

[keeptrucking]

[that shouldn't fluster him. they're glasses. but he's a little smitten over no glasses. how intimate...]

Yeah... looks good. You look good.

[good one.]

I spilled the soda, so maybe I should help you do the laundry... later. [orrrr tomorrow?]

[armanyo]

[ later still has a vagueness to it. it could be tonight. or tomorrow. who knows. ]

Eh. I was waving fries around.

[ did joe just take responsibility? what a charmer. that's true romance. ]

I should mention that the laundry room closes at night.

[ ??????? laundry hours man. ]

[keeptrucking]

[Joe taking responsibility, damn, be still his little romantic heart. sold.]

Why didn't you mention that sooner? [the thirst, but still.] What if the stain doesn't come out... Man, this sucks.

[ugh, now he's thinking about this bullshit thing that isn't boyfriend stuff at all. terrible.]

[armanyo]

[ don't do that. just focus on the now daichi. focus on boyfriend things. ]

Stain removers get a lot worse than soda out.

[ he sounds confident. sounds like he spills stuff a lot. or gets ink on clothes or something. ]

Guess you can never leave~ [ joe. ]

[keeptrucking]

[but his clothes...! Joe, though. good thing Daichi is easily pulled back around to the important things.]

Be serious! We'll just have to do the laundry in the morning.

[not how he envisioned casually declaring he will stay the night, but Joe.]

[armanyo]

[ listen. he's not at all hiding the way his grin widens. sweet deal!!!

so excuse him as he kisses daichi's lips very briefly. ]

Heh. It's decided. One less problem.

[keeptrucking]

[not cute, he's mad now.



no, ridiculous. he's exasperated at best, but what else is new? that's practically his lifestyle. he raises a hand to Joe's face again, but this time he forgets whatever he was going to do in favor of smoothing his thumb along his cheekbone. smitten.

...and oh, talking instead of just looking, right.]

Oh, uh, good. ...Wait, there are other problems?

[armanyo]

[ the casual touching is his new favorite thing. that's a secret though. it's an honest relief that daichi is actually this affectionate. ]

Mhmmm.

[ what are these problems, joe! he looks pretty damn mischievous - even more so without the glasses to hide it. ]

How much do you weigh?

[keeptrucking]

[he's gotta get his casual touch on. nothing better than sappy romance.]

Not a lot? [i'm not looking this up at 4am so idk he hasn't had a physical lately.]

[armanyo]

[ the sappiest romance. ]

I figured.

[ oh?? well that's because he's being impulsive. slowly, joe shifts so that his feet hit the floor once more. and then his arms are winding back around daichi...

he's going to legimately try and carry him off this couch. ]

[keeptrucking]

[ah, no idea is too stupid for Joe, it seems. Daichi gives him a look, then when that doesn't magically stop this wild ride, reaches for his arms to at least hold up for a second before he gets hauled off.]

Okay, you really don't have to carry me around. [that's it, that''s his whole attempt.]

[armanyo]

Yup. Don't have to. Just want to.

[ of course joe says that. and for a nerdy business guy he at least has enough pipes to carry daichi. cool.

look it's not far to the bedroom. so yeah. here is the bedroom it's kind of boring to look at. nothing surprising in here nope. especially not the bed he unceremoniously drops daichi on. ]

[keeptrucking]

[when you've been dating a guy for less than 5 hours and he already thinks it's in his boyfriend rights to toss you on beds. Daichi handles this with all the grace one would expect of him - so not much - culminating in the "huh??" of surprise right before Joe actually drops him.

ah, the bedroom of an older man... if he doesn't look around with brand new interest, it's becuse he miiiight have poked his head in earlier when he was going to the bathroom. couldn't resist.]

Somehow I didn't think you'd be able to do that. [impressive? now he's just sitting here, on the bed.] This is probably the part where I tell my parents I'm somewhere else, huh? Haha...

[he's not nervous, that's silly.]

[armanyo]

[ that'd be dumb. don't be nervous. what are you, eighteen? ]

Text. Or call. Whatever you usually do, yeah.

[ he's humming as he just fiddles around the bedroom. he's selecting a simple white t-shirt and a pair of sweats from the dresser in the corner. ]

Be right back~

[ the tildes return as he heads out of the room to brush his teeth, change, turn off the rest of the lights in the apartment, and also give daichi some space to deal with his parents. it's a great culmination of excuses!!! ]

[keeptrucking]

[hey, he can do this. it'd be dumber if he tried to fake it. anyway he's only going to text his parents just in case Joe starts singing in the bathroom... somehow he gets away with just saying he's "out studying," so either his parents assume he means at Hibiki's or see this blatant lie for what it is and don't care. could be anything. who knows.

he's making faces at his phone whenever Joe comes back, playing with the hoodie strings himself for once as a helpful distraction. nnnh. he's good, he's cool. he's sending one final text in the exchange before he glances up—]

Annnd... there, parents totally lied to. You know this makes you a bad influence.

[countdown until he gets really gay about casual pjs starts.......now.]

[armanyo]

[ daichi, you're such a troublemaker. no, just kidding. it's doubtful they think you're up to Any Trouble. and yes, joe was in fact humming in the bathroom. when isn't this guy doing something of the sort? it's a mystery.

joe, still sans glasses, cracks a grin at the comment. ]

Haven't I always been?

[ that's fair. either way, he's going to sit down on the edge of the bed and find the remote for the small tv stashed in his nightstand's drawer. ]

You'd think Hibs would have already laid claim to that title.

[keeptrucking]

[gaze....... he shrugs. you would think that, and yet??]

He's subtle. Sometimes it's scary...

[he fiddles with his phone a bit more while Joe looks for the remote. he doesn't have any more texts to s—aw fuck.]

We didn't ask him to give Yamato that awful drink. Think it'll be better or worse to drink in the morning?

[armanyo]

Better. So much better in the morning.

[ that's not terrifying at all, is it? joe actually chuckles and casually tosses the remote onto the space on the bed between them. at least he's not dangling it in his face? that's an improvement, right? ]

I'm giving you the ultimate control here, Dai. Pick something to watch~

[keeptrucking]

Why? You're not gonna watch it.

[he chuckles as he says this and picks up the remote anyway, but... be real... also: realizing he said this out loud. oops.]

I mean... w-what's even on late night TV?

[armanyo]

[ listen he could just be implying that joe's glasses are off and he's going to sleep. he did give gentleman's honor.... ]

Eh. Lots of anti-balding products.

[ he sounds like he knows these late night advertisements quite well. falling asleep to background noise and all that jazz.

oops he's playing with that hoodie string again. just cut his hand off, it'd be better. ]

[keeptrucking]

Old people can't even stay up that late...

[duh, that's totally the truth. Daichi flips through some channels... commercial, commercial, movie that started 30 minutes ago, commercial...]

Man, I wish I had a TV in my room.

[off topic but okay Daichi. he says nothing about strings and in fact just scoots closer to Joe automatically, while still engrossed in his channel skimming. see how cool he is? there's no reason for all this space between them.]

[armanyo]

[ the coolest.

joe is starting to realize that daichi is actually a lot calmer about this then he originally gave him credit for. then again, he's an eighteen year old guy, not some fair maiden that's never touched someone's hand before. ]

You're right. My bedtime is promptly nine.

[ what a joker!! if daichi is scooting closer he'll drop the strings and instead hook his arm around his shoulders. that's quality comfort. ]

And why not? Your parents against fun?

[keeptrucking]

Well, my grades already aren't, uh, great, and apparently watching TV is mind poison. Or something. The grades part is fair enough...

[he'd study even less with a personal tv? maybe the reason his parents believe him every time he says he's studying somewhere is because they have hope.

anyway, he's definitely nervous because he's generously imagined all kinds of sharing the bed with a cute special someone scenarios, not because he deeply values his hand touching chastity. although the older dude element is a new development and he has to re-think all of his dumb teenage fantasies.

not right now. he'll save that for some other time. he's very comfortable slouching against Joe in a new and interesting location.]

[armanyo]

[ the crisis can happen on your own time, daichi. joe isn't sure he's well-equipped to handle that at this hour. ]

I can tell you what my GPA was to make you feel better~

[ that's terrifying. but joe is employed at an international business company so it can't be all that bad? like foreign trade, that's gotta be some kinds of smart. right? right.

the fidgeting hand hasn't stopped, just relocated from strings to absently rubbing half-circles against daichi's forearm. ]

[keeptrucking]

From like forever ago? I'll pass.

[old man!! his grades aren't the worst ever, okay, just not that great.

Joe probably isn't well-equipped to handle anybody's "gayer than I previously thought" epiphanies at any time, but it will be short-lived since they already made out on the couch. that's all the experience Daichi has to his name now... it's hard to argue with.

but he's relaxing here, at his incomprehensible Daichi pace. the touch against his arm is nice, and for a moment he lapses into thoughtful silence. not about grades—]

Um- hey, Joe... I know it's kinda, sorta really obvious by now but I didn't say it and I feel like I probably should? Uh— [Daichi.] Well, I really like you. There.