Who: Eiri and Tohma When: Afternoon while Shuichi is at Work Where: Eiri's Apartment What: Tohma helps Eiri make dinner! Rating G Status: Complete
Being the man he was, Tohma naturally liked to stick his fingers into as many different pots as possible, which was, sadly, not as fun as it sounded. Today was time to meddle with Eiri's. He arrived, unannounced, at Eiri's apartment early in the afternoon with bags of ingredients for a simple, but lovely meal, and knocked at the door, smiling excitedly
Eiri, who had been flipping though channels and having a drink, trying to figure out what to cook for dinner in the slim chance that Shuichi would be home, wondered vaguely who that was. There were only a few people that visited him - his siblings, Seguchi, and his editor. With a sigh, he put out his cigarette and set his drink down, heading to the door to open it.
And there Tohma stood, grinning like an idiot. "Good afternoon, Eiri-saan~! I'm glad to see that you're awake!" He lifted up one of the bags to show him, "I'm going to help you make dinner for your sweetheart today. May I come in?"
Eiri fairly groaned, but stepped inside, closing the door behind Tohma as he came in. "What posessed you to help me do something nice for the brat, of all people?" he grumbled.
"Oh come on now, Don't act like I'm some cold, callous, hateful man toward him," he said pleasantly, taking off his shoes. "You know that your happiness comes above all other things. And I think you've been wanting to have a nice romantic evening with him for a while. you seem so lonesome, Eiri-san."
Eiri frowned, heading in to relight his cigarette. Had he really put it out for this? "Your plan would be brilliant if it weren't for the fact he'll probably be at work until eleven or later and they'll probably get takeout at the studio."
"You forget who you're talking to, Eiri-san," He said, looking back to him with a smile. "Like I said, I'm not completely callous and cold." He moved to the kitchen, setting the things down on the counter and began to take things out of the bags. "Even if I can appear that way. I have a talent of making people do what I want."
"I've noticed," Eiri replied, glancing at the clock. It was late enough in the afternoon that if he fixed dinner, it might not be too soon. Or perhaps they could wait a while... his schedule was messed up, anyway. How the hell should he know when dinner should be? Grabbing his glass, he took a sip.
Tohma was more interested in getting things started, pulling out a package of chicken. "I really just want you to have a good evening. You work so hard all the time it almost seems like you never have time to relax and be in love." he smiled back at him happily.
Eiri blushed, muttering something about not being in love, finishing off his drink. "Are we making it now?" he asked flatly.
"would you prefer to wait?" he asked, looking back to him. He could deal with that, he supposed... at least give him a little time with Eiri
"He probably won't be back if we start right now, you think?" he frowned a little bit, trying to appraise the time correctly, having not really slept the night before.
"well... I suppose. I'm just getting carried away, I guess." He moved to put the chicken in the refrigerator. He really was excited to help eiri... but maybe just a bit too excited. He left the kitchen and looked around the apartment. It was tidy, but as always, looked hardly lived-in. At least the tv was on. "Looks like you've given yourself a day off."
"I worked all night," Eiri grumbled. "I can't concentrate on that stupid book anymore..." he sat back down, making a mental note to put perishables in the refridgerator some time soon.
Tohma smiled at him and made to sit over next to him, "You've hit a dead-end then?" Tohma asked, sinking back to enjoy the comfortable couch
"No. I just need a break," He shook his head slightly, putting out his cigarette and pulling up another.
Tohma sighed softly, biting back a chastising reminder about the dangers of smoking. "Some people would say your work is a break, Eiri-san."
"Yeah? I'd like to see them create a series of best selling novels, then," he half glared, taking a drag.
"certainly. I would never have such ignorance. I've seen how hard you work and how stressed you become. It's quite sad, actually. No one sees your silent toiling in the middle of the night, writing things to make them happy."
Eiri rolled his eyes. "I haven't asked for sympathy, Seguchi." and he really didn't want it. It just embarrassed him.
"You still deserve more credit than you get. Or at least a backrub now and then." He smiled sweetly over at him
Eiri sighed, leaning back a little bit. "No-one requires extra gratitude for doing their job... that's why it's called a job."
"but they do deserve extra for doing it well, wouldn't you say?" He asked, shifting to sit sideways on the couch. "Otherwise there's little incentive to keep doing a good job."
"Perhaps you're right," he replied, glancing over to the clock again. It was a good hours before Shuichi would be home on an extrodinarily good day. It shouldn't take more than an hour to and hour and a half to fix, so.. what would he do for the rest of the time?
Tohma had some ideas. He looked around the apartment and sighed softly. "You don't clean much, do you?" not that the place was dirty... a little dusty maybe... hm... "You know what? you should lay down. Get some rest. You hardly looked like you've slept at all."
"I'm fine," he replied, focusing on his cigarette as he watched the other appraise the apartment. "There isn't much to clean. Nothing gets very dirty."
"It's dusty. probably needs to be mopped, too." He stroked his chin and smiled. "or you can take a bath. I'm sure there's plenty of places to clean on you"
"I bathe every day, thank you," Eiri growled, putting out his cigarette frustratedly.
Tohma pouted over at him pitifully. "You're no fun, Eiri-san.." he whined. "when you serve dinner, you should at least be dressed nicely. make it nice for him to come home to"
"The way I dress is fine," he shot back somewhat grumpily, leaning back again.
"Yes, that's true," Tohma began, leaning over against him and pinching Eiri's sleeve, "but you wouldn't wear this out, would you? And besides, it's supposed to be special. You want to make it romantic, right?"
"When did you get this idea in your head?" Eiri grumbled, shaking his head a little bit.
"well you're fed up with him not spending time with you right? So the best way to make sure he does is to make it memorable. give him a reason to want to come home. That makes sense, right?"
"Why are you doing this?" Eiri asked, feeling growing suspicion.
"What?" He asked, blinking at him, "I want you two to have a good time! isn't that reason enough? I like to see you happy..."
Eiri sighed, leaning back and closing his eyes. "Just... lay off for a few minutes, will you, Seguchi? Just be quiet..."
Tohma frowned. He didn't want to make him angry. "very well." He smiled and leaned up to kiss his cheek before standing and finding something to mop with.
Eiri watched him blankly for a few moments, and when the other dissappeared from his sight for long enough, he found himself quite tired. Not really thinking much, but trusting the other enough to sleep around him even though he would never admit it. Laying down, reasoning it wouldn't be for long, he soon drifted asleep, possibly from the fact that he hadn't slept the night before.
Tohma hummed to himself as he cleaned, quickly noting how quickly Eiri had fallen asleep. It was adorable. In the time that Eiri was asleep, he managed to dust, sweep, and mop the apartment, opting not to vacuum for fear of waking the other up. After doing a little digging, he found some old scented candles that Eiri had thrown into a closet that looked like they weren't even used. probably a gift from someone, and lit them in various places, hoping to diffuse that horrid smoke smell. And when all of that was finished, he got started on dinner
Eiri awoke to what was, to him, a very strong scent of flowers. Seeing the candles lit he blinked sleepily awake. It didn't take long for him to put them out, the scent had already permeated the area thoroughly. With a sigh, he stood. The short nap would be enough for now. Wondering where the other went, he wandered for only a few moments before finding him in the kitchen.
Tohma hummed to himself as he happily peeled the scales from the fish in front of him, rather wrapped up in his work. He turned to go find something to put them in and jumped when he saw Eiri. He sighed and smiled up at him. "You look rested... did you sleep well?"
"Hn. You know, I'm sure Mika would appreciate this if you took the time to do it for her, instead," he commented, coming closer to see what exactly the other was doing.
He'd had various stages of different portions of the meal set up along the counter. "I was hoping to be further along when you woke up." He found a pan and set it on the stove, bringing over his fish fillets to set into it. "And who's to say I don't? I like to share the wealth sometimes." He smiled sweetly and went to attend to his korokke mixture
"You know, if you do all of this, it's not going to make it very sincerely from me, now, is it?" he asked, surveying what was set out so he could decide what to start work on.
Tohma smiled back at him and shrugged. "I could care less about what Shindou thinks. I just like helping you, Eiri-san. You know that." He lowered the heat on the other pan and leaned over to give him a playful, flirtatious kiss on the cheek.
Eiri shook his head, settling on the fish that Tohma has been working on when he came in, since he was busy between the rest of it. Why people seemed intent on helping him when he didn't need it... was still beyond him.
"You don't have to do that, Eiri-san," the shorter man said with a smile, "unless you really really want to, in which case, I don't think that I want to stop you."
"I should do something," Eiri mumbled softly, making relatively quick work of it.
"well if you insist. I suppose it couldn't hurt. You usually do well enough on your own anyway, right? Or at least that's what you've been telling me." Tohma laughed softly and nudged him with his hip before he pulled the pan from the burner to let it cool. "I hope everything goes okay." he frowned up at Eiri, "since he's been away so much.. when was the last time you two had sex?"
Eiri gaped at the other, blatantly missing the fish and slicing his finger open, which brought him pretty quickly back to reality. "Shit..." he stepped back, heading toward the medicine cabinet for the band-aids usually reserved for Shuichi. "Don't ask me those kinds of things!" he grumbled.
"Eiri! You're bleeding!" Tohma cried, following him to the cabinet. "I'm so sorry!" He frowned, feeling just god-awful about accidentally harming his precious Eiri and once the bandage box was out, he quickly grabbed Eiri's uninjured hand and brought him to the sink. "That knife is filthy, we have to wash this. Oh god, Eiri-san I'm so so so sorry!"
It... had been a long while since he'd seen Seguchi freak out like that. Allowing the other to do whatever it was that would make him feel better about it, he calmly shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I just slipped."
Tohma pouted and ran Eiri's finger under the water, grabbing a paper towel so he could apply some kind of pressure. "Dumb question to ask when you're handling a sharp object, hm?" He gave a nervous little laugh
"I wasn't expecting it," he replied flatly, looking away. And maybe moreso because he had only just then realized it really had been a while... and how much he wanted the pink haired singer.
"I'm sorry..." he felt like he couldn't apologize enough for his stupid little mistake and whimpered, pulling the finger to his lips to kiss it. "keep pressure on that. I'll finish with the fish."
"I'm fine," Eiri fairly sulked, going back to his normal behavior when the other began to baby him, grabbing one of the bandaids and wrapping it tight enough to cause some pressure before picking up the knife again, washing it off first.
Tohma frowned at him as he picked up the knife.... if he said he was all right then maybe... he sighed and nodded, going back to the pan he'd set aside to start forming and battering them. Maybe he'd stay away from that subject.... at least until he wasn't handling anything dangerous.
Eiri quickly finished the fish with relative silence between them until he finally looked over to Tohma. "What are we making with this, anyway?"
"I was thinking of just grilling it. It's not a particularly special occasion, so nothing overly-fancy is needed... just maybe something that shows you put effort into it. That's all." He smiled pleasantly over at him "unless you had something else in mind"
"No, that sounds good," he shrugged, throwing the scales away.
Well at least Eiri was okay with his plan. That was a good thing at least. "Wonderful." He hurried over to grab some oil from the cupboard. He wanted to make conversation with Eiri... but he really felt terrible that he didn't know what else they could talk about for the time being... Ah! there was a subject! "Have you spoken with Tatsuha recently?"
"Yes, he's just moved into a new place, I hear," he replied unemotionally.
"So I've heard," he said with a smile, "Has he informed you about his occupation?" Obviously he knew. otherwise he wouldn't be having this discussion at all
"Ah, he mentioned something last time I saw him," he shrugged a little bit, showing that he didn't care.
"You weren't mad or surprised?" Tohma asked, looking over at him, "I'd figure you'd be at least a little upset."
"Why? It's what he was always good at," after all, Tatsuha hadn't told him exactly what he worked as, but since he slipped and mentioned the name, it was easy for Eiri to look up.
"So you don't mind that he might be tarnishing your good name?" the smaller blond pulled off his glasses as he waited for the oil to heat up in the pan so he could fry his little balls of potato
"My good name? He doesn't even have the same last name. I have no idea what you're talking about," he shook his head. "No more than when we used to share girls."
"That always did confuse me a little," Tohma admitted, "you do look similar but still, a teenager will look like a teenager where it matters. Unless you deal with some shady women, Eiri-san..."
Eiri chuckled. "I don't know, either. I don't really care, though."
"I see that.." Tohma chuckled softly as well and moved to turn over the things frying in the pan, "Tell me you at least had enough class not to get Tatsuha's leftovers"
"Not that I know of," he mumbled slightly, looking over his shoulder. "What can I do?"
Tohma looked to the clock, taking note of the time. "Well.. if you'd like, you can finish up here. At least look like you did something," he teased, rolling down his sleeves, "does that sound good?"
"Yeah, I would have cooked it myself anyway," Eiri grumbled, taking over.
"You don't let me spoil you nearly enough, Eiri-san," Tohma pouted. "Is there anything you need before I go? Anything I can do for you?"
"Not really," he replied, then sighed, knowing what he should say. "...Thanks."
That gave Tohma a bright smile. He got appreciation from Eiri!! "You're more than welcome. You know I want to do whatever I can for you." He leaned up to kiss his cheek before whispering into his ear. "I left you a little something in your room." He winked and grabbed his glasses, getting ready to go. "You have a good night. Please let me know how dinner goes, won't you?"
"Yeah, I will," he replied, looking over his shoulder and deciding to see him out.
He pulled his keys from his pocket and smiled back at Eiri. "Thank you for having me over. It was a pleasure as always."
"Yeah, I'll talk to you sometimes soon," Eiri followed him to the door.
With his hand on the handle, he turned back to get another look at him. "If you need anything before Shindou-san comes home, please let me know. I'll be more than happy to help you out." He gave a little smirk, "what, no goodbye kiss?"
"I hope you weren't expecting one," Eiri retorted, leaning against the wall.
He pouted playfully, "meanie... It's a wonder I do anything for you." he winked and smiled pleasantly, "very well. Don't have too much fun. I'd hate for you to injure Shindou-san and have me out one vocalist. I'd come beat you up."
"I'm sure," Eiri smirked, knowing he'd do nothing of the sort.
God he loved that little smartass grin. It just... suited him somehow. He sighed longingly, easily disguising it as a huff. "Fine. Be that way. Call me." He opened the door and waved to him before stepping out.
Eiri shook his head, moving back to the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.