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Who: Niou and Tachibana
When: UHHH. 31 July??
Where: Niou's office!
What: Niou and Tachibana do some dodgy things and avoid having a proper conversation
Tachibana was nervous as he headed down to engineering. His last conversation with Niou had been strained, but luckily, Niou seemed to be willing to leave it be for now. He brought some food, just in case, and headed down to where Niou normally worked. He spotted his friend working and cleared his throat. “Hey, is it a bad time?” He asked. If so, he would just leave the food and go.
Niou jumped at the sudden interruption, nearly dropping the almost finished metal detector. He'd gotten so used to blocking out the sounds of the other engineers the last few days he hadn't noticed. And oh, Tachibana. "No, I can take my break. I'm due for one anyway." Niou grinned and hopped off his stool, waving Tachibana to follow him. "Let's go into my office and we can chat in private."
Tachibana nodded and followed Niou, meeting eyes with a few engineers as he did so. “I know you didn’t ask for a second meal today, but I brought one. You can share it if it’s too much food.” He smiled. He was so used to seeing Niou with the chickens that seeing him at his actual job was still taking some getting used to.
"Oh good, I can report to Renji about it, before he decides he needs to intervene and… lock me in a room until I eat a sufficient amount of something." Niou just sounded unimpressed at the idea. He shooed Tachibana into his office and closed and locked the door behind them. "He was starting to get a bit judgey earlier."
Tachibana sighed at the thought of Yanagi and his strange methods. “I still think there was a better way.” He put the food down before taking a good look at Niou. “Maybe they shouldn’t overload you with work and then judge you when you try to get it done.”
"Well it's better than the last expedition," Niou said cheerfully. "Because Sanada and I were doing all the tests while on the field, since we were so pushed for time." And thank god the "algorithm" had been smart enough for that. He poked at the food and then looked up at the camera to pointedly gesture at the plate, because Yanagi was 100% watching.
Tachibana followed his line of sight, and then looked back. “Still, I imagine you could have been given a more gracious time table.” Tachibana grumped. Nevermind that Niou was his friend, he didn’t like to see anyone overworked. “Do you think you’ll get everything done in time?”
"We're actually nearly finished everything!" Niou said and oh, he should wash his hands before he ate. "Which gives us one week to teach people how to use everything, and make any last adjustments." He wiped the grease off his hands and sanitised them. "Imagine if we'd had to do that last time, my cover would have been blown so quickly."
Tachibana chuckled. At least Niou seemed to be in good spirits. “You could have recorded an audio file and rigged up a manikin or something.” He wasn’t sure how dedicated Niou had been to the lie, but he was sure the other man could figure a cover out.
Niou laughed at the idea. “I mean, I’d already accidentally exposed it to you by that point, my concentration was definitely slipping.” He ate a mouthful of food and then another. “Do you get nervous at all, watching other people eat the food you eat?”
Tachibana laughed at the question. “I used to. When I was a kid and starting out, my food was toxic.” He pulled up a stool to sit down. “My poor family would constantly be sick, yet they still kept eating it.” He shrugged. “I eventually learned how to cook properly.”
… Toxic, huh. Niou paused eating and looked down at the container and then back up to Tachibana. “When you were working at the soup kitchen, right?” Niou ate one more mouthful before pushing the food towards Tachibana questioningly.
Tachibana nodded and looked at the food. “Yeah, the head cook there taught me a lot.” He smiled. “Finished already?” He knew he had made a lot, but he was still learning what portion size Niou needed.
“Well, you learned well from then.” And oh, no that was not his intention at all and Niou pulled the container back towards himself. “No, I just usually space out the eating of your meals over a few hours.” Niou frowned. “Renji was getting all judgemental and talking about three meals a day, but if I did that, I actually would just eat continuously over the 24 hours.”
Tachibana blushed at the compliment. “Thanks…” He chuckled when Niou pulled the food back toward himself. “I already ate, by the way…” He scratched his cheek in thought. “Yanagi-san is a smart man, but I don’t think he understands my methods well. The food I’m giving you has enough nutrients for the whole day. I wouldn’t just agree to a single meal without making sure you were still getting everything you needed.”
Niou paused and oh, Tachibana was sneaky. “So if I did want to go to two proper meals a day regularly, you’d have to make adjustments to the plan.” He narrowed his eyes at Tachibana. “That wasn’t me suggesting it, by the way. You already do too much for me.” When he’d asked for help, he hadn’t actually anticipated it resulting in a daily home-cooked meal, after all.
Tachibana nodded. “I would. But there isn’t really anything wrong with the way you’re eating right now. If you’re eating it throughout the day, you’re still maintaining a nutritional balance.” he raised an eyebrow. “I don’t feel like it’s too much. I enjoy cooking.”
“Well, if Renji kidnaps me again for my food intake, I shall expect you to defend me appropriately.” And maybe go around knocking S-O-S on the doors again, but he’d keep that bit of laughter-inducing amusement to himself. Niou picked at his food and then sighed. “It’s not just the cooking. You really do indulge me too much, I’m going to get so spoiled and greedy.”
“Maybe I should send him your meal plans before he gets that in his head.” Tachibana offered. Surely, if Yanagi saw how much nutrition Niou was actually getting, he would back off a little… right? “Would you prefer I stop…? Because I don’t mind doing it.”
“Maybe. It might save me a bit of grief if he tries to combine food and sleep.” Niou cringed at the very vivid memory of trying to figure out the stupid locking mechanism when he’d first been in that room. He tilted his head and considered Tachibana for a moment. “Just as long as you’re aware that whatever you start doing for me, you might be stuck doing for the next 5 years.”
Tachibana was already now planning to send Yanagi the meal plans, just in case. He sighed and smiled softly at Niou. “I’m okay with that. I don’t have much else to do in my down time…and if it helps you take care of yourself, it’s worth it.”
Niou rolled his eyes. “And people call me a workaholic.” But he did give Tachibana a smile in return. “And here you are, building a fish farm, while being a full time parent and doing extra care for the disastrous engineer.” He shook his head. “If you’re not careful, soon you’ll be sleeping 3 hours a night and running on fumes only.”
Tachibana idly tapped his fingers on Niou’s desk. “I don’t really sleep a tonne of hours to begin with.” He admitted. “Five tops, most days. I enjoy being busy.” He snorted thinking about Kin-chan for a moment. “And I’ll have you know, I share custody with Byodoin-san.” Seriously, if Tachibana had to be on Kin watch 24/7 he might actually die. “And you’ve helped me, too. So no worries.”
Niou was distracted from what was probably going to be a very hypocritical lecture to Tachibana about how 5 hours sleep a night was not enough, instead laughing at the thought of sharing custody. “And what, you hand him off in the morning to Byodoin for his shared custody time?” He laughed again and then sobered as he narrowed his eyes at Tachibana. “I think you’re more sneaky than you admit.”
"That is exactly how it works." Tachibana laughed. Feigning surprise, he gasped. "Sneaky? Me? What did I do?"
… Yeah that was definitely fake and Niou filed that away, to strengthen his suspicions about Tachibana being sneaky. “I think… it’s something that should probably be talked about at a later date. Along with your other secrets.” And he needed to change the topic before he let his too-rested brain go down that path again. “The blind spot from the cameras is that corner over there,” he said suddenly, nodding in the direction.
Tachibana laughed brightly. He really wasn't that sneaky, but Niou’s face was too funny. He followed Niou’s line of sight and nodded. "You are really curious, huh?"
Niou smiled. “Well, I didn’t exactly think to check behind your ears when I was washing your hair. And otherwise, I’ve seen… pretty much everything.” And touched pretty much everything too, which was a bit embarrassing to think. “Except what’s hidden by your hair and shorts. Of course I’m curious.”
"Like I said before, I don't mind." Tachibana stood up to head over to the blind spot. Once there, he beckoned Niou over. "Just remember, I get to see yours, too."
“Ah, with your supposed open book approach. Nothing to hide, really.” Niou followed Tachibana, glancing at the camera again as he shooed Tachibana a bit more into the corner. Right, now they both should be out of view, save for his feet. “Look and… touch for 5 seconds to check it wasn’t drawn on, right?”
"Nothing important to hide, anyway." Tachibana said, letting himself be moved into the right position. "Right…and if you would like, you can see mine, first." He offered.
“Maybe we have different opinions on what’s important.” And now that they were standing close to each other, Niou was starting to get nervous again. “Yeah, I want to see yours first. And then I might switch positions with you, just in case the camera angle is slightly wrong.” He reached out to poke Tachibana’s ear. “Behind your left ear, right? Come here Kippei.”
Tachibana nodded, leaning forward slightly so Niou could get a good view. He pulled his hair back, so the beauty mark behind his ear, midway to his throat, was visible. "Can you see it?"
Oh, there it was. Definitely very secretive with Tachibana’s long hair. “5 seconds.” Niou pressed a finger against the mark and rubbed it lightly and counted the seconds out, although definitely a fair bit slower than they really should be. And he finished with a little scrape of his nail, just in case. “It’s definitely real.”
Tachibana's mouth went dry at the feel of Niou’s nail. "Yeah, it's real…" He said, his voice soft. "It's not ugly, is it?"
What an odd question. “No? It’s a charm point, isn’t it?” Niou couldn’t resist and touched the mark again. And then he laughed, pulling his hand away. “Oh no, sorry. I owe you like 7 seconds now, I guess.”
Tachibana’s face was bright red. "It's alright…" He smiled shakily. "I'm glad it's not ugly." He had never actually seen it closely, of course.
Niou just smiled in confusion and okay okay, he had to show his secret charm point too. Which, he kind of regretted not picking a different one. “Right. Out of the way, Kippei.” He patted Tachibana on the arm to move and slipped between him and the wall. And then used both hands to position Tachibana so he was properly angled mostly out of sight of the camera. And oh god why was his heart racing right now.
Tachibana’s heart was racing as well. Being jammed into a corner was enough, but Niou manhandling him was another thing. "Whenever you're ready."
Niou undid the zip and buttons holding the coveralls shut and pulled them down to his waist. And he was already starting to flush as he gripped the bottom of his shirt. “... Looking and then… just tell me before you touch, okay? And I’ll count the 7 seconds.” And before he could chicken out, Niou pulled his shirt up to his neck so Tachibana could see. “Left side.” Just in case.
Tachibana really didn't mean to stare as Niou stripped, but how could he not? Once the shirt was up, he spotted the charm point quite easily against Niou’s pale skin. "I'm going to touch it now…" he said, his voice almost a whisper.
Why didn’t he tell Tachibana about the mark on his back, or on his hip or something, Niou thought hysterically as he glanced up at Tachibana’s face and then turned red. “Okay.” He had to whisper back, trying to calm his breathing and heart.
Tachibana gingerly pressed his fingers against Niou’s skin, touching the mark carefully. He was ready to count along with Niou, even as he decided to pay Niou back in kind, and scraped a nail across the mark. “Seems to be real as well…”
"One, two, three– oh god," Niou inhaled sharply and clenched his fingers in his shirt. "It's definitely real," he said and what number had he gotten up to? "I'd ask if it's ugly, but I know it's not." He was maybe sounding a bit tense and Tachibana could probably feel his heart under his hand. "You've still got… 4 seconds to go."
Tachibana almost withdrew his hand. Niou’s heart was beating so fast. “It’s not ugly, it’s beautiful.” He was focusing so much on be careful with his touch that he didn’t even realize how cheesy that sounded. “Four seconds, got it…”
Niou managed a laugh. "That doesn't count, you think I'm attractive, so." His toes curled and he shifted slightly on the spot. And then reached out to tug Tachibana a bit closer, to make sure he was definitely out of sight of the camera.
God, this was torture. Did Niou even realize what he was doing to Tachibana? They were now so close, Tachibana could feel Niou’s breath. “Fuck…” He had to withdraw his hand before the seventh second. “I can’t…” He couldn’t hold out that long without doing something stupid. “Sorry…”
Niou counted out the remaining seconds, getting more tense as they got closer. And then laughed as Tachibana suddenly pulled away. "Too hard?" he asked, feeling probably as stretched thin as Tachibana did. Niou tugged down his shirt.
Tachibana’s face was bright red, and he turned his head away, but he nodded. “Too hard.” He rasped out. “Too tempting. Let’s not do that again.” He didn’t want to do something that would not only be stupid, but would ruin their friendship. “Sorry.”
He fidgeted awkwardly because one part of him was rather enjoying seeing Tachibana's face so red, even though his own was in much the same state, but also… maybe a bit far. "That's okay." Niou did tug up his shirt one more time though to show Tachibana his belly. "Quickly though, just to prove I do have an innie."
Tachibana looked, because he couldn’t stop himself. “Masaharu…” He ran a hand down his face. “It’s very cute, but do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?”
Niou fixed up his shirt and he should probably put on the coveralls properly again but… later. "I think I can take a pretty good guess," he admitted, glancing over Tachibana's face. "I do actually know a little."
“Is it part of your experiments?” Tachibana asked. “To see how far you can push me?” He wasn’t sure why he was so upset about this. He had agreed to it, after all. Perhaps he had just finally found his limit. “Or is there another goal in mind?”
Niou blinked at the questions and tilted his head, leaning back against the wall. "Is that what you think I'm doing?" he asked back, frowning at Tachibana. "What if I'm just looking to see how far I can push myself? Is that more acceptable?"
Tachibana scratched his neck, closing his eyes to take a breath. "Sorry…I know that. I know that's the point. Just feeling a little on edge." He took a moment to calm himself. "It's just…the further we push you, I'm being pulled in and I'm worried the cable might snap sooner than I thought."
If Niou was feeling more daring, he might… do something very stupid and push Tachibana further, but he crossed his arms over his chest instead. He was silent for a while, frowning. "Worried it'll be too hard to be friends…?" he guessed. "Even though you said before your only boundary between them was sex?"
"I'm worried my resolve will break and I'll cross a line." Tachibana admitted. "I'm only human, and having the person I desire letting me touch him like that was just a bit too much…" Tachibana was pretty sure at that moment that he was actually an awful person. "I don't want to go past the point of no return."
"I see…" Niou looked away from Tachibana's face as he thought and at least now his heart had stopped hammering in his chest. "That may make the exposure therapy more difficult." He glanced at Tachibana again and then away. "What about the hugging and kissing, then? Or is that getting too dangerous now too?"
"If we keep our clothes on, I should be fine." Tachibana said. "I don't want to stop completely." He just had to be more careful. "Is that okay?"
Oh. "I wasn't about to make something like that a normal thing!" Niou said, kind of horrified. "Next time you might count my ribs, I can't have that." He shooed Tachibana out of the way so he could get out from the corner, his face red again. "I definitely want to keep clothes on in the future, thank you."
Tachibana let out a sigh of relief. Okay, everything was normal, for now. "Then we'll be fine." He decided to break the tension even more with a tease. "Why are you so paranoid about me counting your ribs? Do you not have the same number as everyone else?"
“Are you still okay to try sleeping together?” Niou looked very solidly away from Tachibana as he asked, pulling the sleeves of his coveralls back on. He did smile a bit at the teasing though. “Maybe I have an extra rib, on one side. Or a missing one. And I’m self-conscious about normal rib-numbered people like you seeing it.”
"Yeah. I should be fine." He would just make sure to meditate beforehand or something. Tachibana laughed, nodding in understanding. "I see. I see. I am a little shocked you would assume I am a normal rib-numbered person without confirming, however."
“Good.” Since that was actually one of the selfish requests Tachibana had made, Niou assumed it was therefore kind of important to try. Niou paused and narrowed his eyes, partway through doing up the coveralls. “... So you’re fine with me touching you, and you taking your clothes off. Right?”
Tachibana nodded, even though he was pretty sure Niou Masaharu was going to be the death of him. "As long as I have at least shorts on, yes." He honestly did want to help Niou with his exposure therapy, he was just going to have to take cold showers more often. "So no worries there, alright?"
Niou sat down at his desk again and just looked amused. “I think maybe you might need to consider exposure therapy, Kippei. To get more used to seeing more bare skin besides my hands and face.” He laughed and pushed up one of his sleeves, waving his bared forearm.
Tachibana shook his head, heading back over to the stool. "It's a little different, Masaharu. I'm attracted to you, so of course it's going to affect me. You aren't attracted to me, so your mind doesn't wander when you see my skin." He playfully shielded his eyes. "Too much, please stop!" He laughed.
Niou laughed and tugged down his sleeve again, turning his attention to finishing buttoning up the front. He stared intently at his hands. “Who said I’m not attracted to you, by the way?” he asked casually, his eyebrows drawing together. “I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question about that.”
Tachibana stopped laughing for a moment, then chuckled again nervously. "I mean…if you were attracted to me, wouldn't me being half-naked be hard for you?" He had just assumed, since Niou seemed relatively unbothered at the sight of Tachibana’s skin.
There were not enough buttons on his coveralls, Niou had decided, as he got up to the top button. “Did you know sleep deprivation affects sex drive?” he asked, now fiddling with the buttons on the sleeves of his coveralls. “I’ve been sleep deprived for…” he glanced up at the ceiling as he thought. “10 years? Something like that.”
Tachibana stared at Niou, stunned into silence. What was he trying to say? No, Tachibana knew exactly what he was trying to say. There was also the horror that this whole sleep thing was apparently a long term thing. "Masaharu…"
Niou spun in his chair a bit to look definitely away from Tachibana, and slouched some more to look up at the ceiling better. “You can ask me a question, since I know you have them,” he said. Because Tachibana was too polite to ask for permission.
Tachibana almost didn't want to. He was worried this would just be some joke… but for some reason he trusted Niou. "Do you find me attractive?" There, it was asked and there was no taking it back.
Oh, well that was more blunt than he’d expected. “I think you’re aesthetically attractive, and I’m pretty sure I’ve told you that before.” Kind of. Not in those words. “I like your hair.” Niou shrugged uncomfortably.
Tachibana doesn't know why, but he wanted to keep digging. "Is there anyone on base you could see yourself becoming attracted to, given enough sleep?"
Niou actually turned to stare at Tachibana because what the fuck was that question. “What, like ‘wanting to have sex with’ attracted to?” He laughed and looked up at the ceiling again. “I imagine I’d be restricted to the people who I actually tolerate touching me. So what, you, Hiyoshi and Jin.” Niou laughed again.
"I don't think it's me." Tachibana said bluntly. And then ran a hand down his face because he hadn't meant to blurt that out. "...No, what I mean is…I suppose I get a little scared this is Senri all over again. It's an irrational fear. It doesn't matter who you find attractive…"
“You’re getting dangerously into ‘I might have to punch you’ territory, Tachibana Kippei,” Niou warned. He looked extremely grumpy. “Shall I have a nap right now, so I can try and tell you if I find you attractive the moment I wake up and my brain thinks I’m actually well rested?”
Tachibana shook his head. "No. No. Sorry…" He went to press his head onto the desk and ended up going down harder than he meant to, effectively slamming his forehead on the desk. "Ow…" He rubbed his forehead. "Just a momentary lapse, I'm fine."
Niou jumped at the sudden noise and what the fuck? He turned to look at Tachibana in shock and… what? “There’s more effective ways to stop me from looking grumpy, you know,” he said, looking confused. “Ones that don’t involve you inflicting brain damage on yourself.”
Tachibana groaned. "That was an accident." He said. "But if you would like to share, I'm all ears." He laughed softly, giving his forehead one more rub to check for bumps.
Niou stood up with a tsk and moved to stand in front of Tachibana. "Push your hair back," he said, reaching out to tilt Tachibana's head up so he could look properly at his forehead. "You could also get better ways to snap yourself out of negative thought loops, if you're looking for new things to try."
Tachibana pushed his hair back, smiling up at Niou. "I'm willing to give anything a try." He was sure his forehead was fine, but if Niou wanted to check, he wasn't going to stop him.
He ran his fingers over Tachibana's forehead (and had to resist asking for the rating out of 10) before flicking him. "You're an idiot." Niou sighed loudly and moved back behind his desk. "Get up and come here, Kippei."
Tachibana was a little confused but stood up and went over closer to Niou. “I get that a lot, quite honestly…” He laughed.
Niou narrowed his eyes at Tachibana. "Sit down on the floor. I'm going to have a nap and you're going to hold my hand." He pushed his desk chair out of the way so he could crawl into the desk space to the pillow and blanket.
Oh, they were going to do that right now? Tachibana shrugged and sat down on the floor. “Don’t be mad if I fall asleep, too.” He joked. He studied the space under the desk and sighed. “I’m just going to assume you enjoy sleeping under here and leave it at that.”
“It’s a work in progress,” Niou said, pulling the blanket over himself. “Sanada’s building me something, since he took issue with it.” He was still grumpy, but stubbornly stuck out his hand for Tachibana to hold. “It’s also a blindspot from the camera, you know.”
Tachibana took his hand, recognizing that Niou was still not quite happy with him. “I’m sure whatever Sanada-san will come up with will be great.” He smiled. “...Is this position okay?”
Niou looked flatly at Tachibana from his curled up position. “You must have killed more brain cells than I thought with that hit.” He tugged on his hand. “I told you it’s a blindspot under the desk. I would like something from you right now, that wouldn’t be appropriate for the cameras to see.”
Tachibana must have hit himself harder than he thought because he was confused. “I’m holding your hand..” And then he thought about the camera and something Niou wouldn’t want the cameras to see. “...Ah. Which one?”
He waited impatiently for Tachibana to figure it out. “It would be quite difficult to fit you under here for a hug,” he said, glancing up and down Tachibana. “And the moment I’m out, Renji will see.” Of course, he’d see Tachibana half-under the desk but whatever.
“...Do you want a kiss?” Tachibana asked. He really didn’t want to assume, but at the same time, he was already holding Niou’s hand.
“If you ask me another question about it, the answer is ‘no’.” Niou moved their held hands onto his lap to pull Tachibana closer.
Tachibana let himself be pulled forward and decided he should probably be done talking for now. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Niou’s lips, hoping that they were well and truly out of sight of the camera.
Niou sighed into the kiss and it was a weird thing to feel some of the grumpiness leave and be replaced with his usual tension. He moved his free hand to the back of Tachibana’s neck to hold him there, pressing a bit closer for another kiss. And another. And another, until the grumpiness had dwindled down to an acceptable level.
Tachibana returned every kiss, gently squeezing Niou’s hand, his own tension from the whole situation beginning to ease. When it seemed like Niou was done, Tachibana smiled gently, but said nothing.
He let his hand drop and looked away, fussing around with putting his pillow into place and curling up around it, and cuddling under the blanket. “20 minutes,” Niou said. “If I’m not asleep in 20 minutes, then… I don’t think the sleeping together thing will work.”
Tachibana nodded. “Okay, then. I’ll watch the time.” He really hoped Niou could get some sleep, partly for a his own selfish reasons. He settled in, letting his back relax as much as it could so he could be comfortable.
It took about two minutes for Niou to realise the position just wasn’t going to work. It was awkward having one hand out from his ball. “Don’t move your hand,” he said warningly and he let go, rearranging himself to curl up around his pillow on the floor instead, his top half out from under the desk. And that was better, as he grabbed Tachibana’s hand again and tucked it close in his own grip. “20 minutes starting now.”
“Alright.” Tachibana nodded, checking to see what time it was before deciding to close his own eyes for now. He wasn’t sleepy, but he couldn’t really concentrate on a book, and a video would have been rude.
Niou was very aware of the passing time, even as he kept his eyes closed and measured his breathing, and kept Tachibana’s hand held close to his chest so the other man could probably track his heartrate. 10 minutes, roughly, and Niou grumbled, rolling onto his stomach to press his face into the pillow.
Tachibana had to shift a little when Niou moved, so his hand didn’t sit awkwardly. He looked at the time, frowning. It was already 10 minute past and Niou wasn’t asleep. He wasn’t so sure this was going to work after all.
The new position helped a bit, so his shoulder wasn’t digging into the ground as much. 16 minutes… 17 minutes… 18 minutes… Niou’s brain helpfully informed him as he very gradually started to drift off, his grip on Tachibana’s hand loosening.
Tachibana looked at Niou when he felt the other’s hand loosen, and then looked at the time. He dared not say anything, just noting they were slightly under the twenty minute mark. He closed his eyes, deciding to rest while Niou did.
Niou woke up quite abruptly, momentarily very confused about how he was sleeping lying down and where that meant he was. And he sat up with a groan and creaking of his joints, rubbing the lingering sleep out of his eyes. “Kippei, wake up. You weren’t meant to fall asleep too.”
Tachibana cracked an eye open. “Just resting my eyes.” He lied. He had definitely drifted off there for a minute. He was pretty groggy. “...Are you okay? How long were we…?”
“Long enough for me to dream about you touching me,” Niou said, groaning again as he stood up and stretched. Just over an hour, actually not too bad. Slightly longer than he would have wanted though. “You okay?”
Tachibana laughed nervously. “I mean, I was holding your hand…that’s what you mean, right?” He was actually impressed he had managed to doze off that long. “Yeah, I’m fine. That wasn’t long enough to make me stiff.”
“I appreciate that you’re trying to spare my dignity. I’m not going to elaborate.” Niou drank some water and was slowly restarting his brain. He held his hand out for Tachibana to take. “I need to get back to work. Unless you want to just keep sitting there while I work…?”
Tachibana blushed at the implication as he took Niou’s hand. He mulled over his choices for a moment. “I should probably get some of my reports in… but could I kiss you before I go?” As much as he would like to sit with Niou all day, he probably shouldn’t distract the engineer too much.
“So demanding,” Niou said with a dramatic sigh as he squatted down and scooted back under his desk to get away from the cameras, tugging Tachibana after him. “First you’re interrupting my work, and then my naps, my only free time is in the bathroom now.”
Tachibana chuckled. “I’m a nuisance, I apologize.” He kissed Niou, a hand on the other’s shoulder as he did so. “I’ll leave you be for now, but I’ll come bother you again before long.” He grinned. “I’ll make sure never to bother you in the bathroom, though.”
Oh, the hand on his shoulder was new and Niou focused on it a bit too much during the kiss. “Probably for the better. Too much exposed skin in the bathroom, it would definitely be too hard.” He pulled Tachibana back in for one more kiss - better now that he’d filed away the hand on his shoulder as a Thing.
“Yeah, I don’t think it would be a good idea, either.” Tachibana was rather bold with this kiss, what with the hand and the tiniest bite to Niou’s lip as their kiss deepened. When they parted, he was bright red and absolutely expecting to be reprimanded.”‘...Ah…I should probably go before the other engineers come looking for you…”
“I have a feeling Sanada’s told them behind my back to not disturb me when my door’s locked.” Since that usually meant he was sleeping and Sanada was weirdly caring about that. Niou looked quite steadily at Tachibana’s face. “I’m not going to break or something, if you push and be selfish, just so you know,” he said. “If you go too far, I’ll tell you. During whatever it is.” Niou took a deep breath and couldn’t quite hold back his ears flushing. “Biting and tongue is fine.”
Tachibana stared. “I figured you would, you don’t have to say it outloud…” He groaned. “...But I’ll keep that in mind.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Ah, after everything is done, I want to make engineering something, to thank you guys for your hard work. Do you know what Sanada-san would like? I know he likes tea…”
“You’re having some difficulty reading me today, I just wanted to make sure you knew 100%.” Niou shrugged. His gaze followed Tachibana’s hand through his hair until he got distracted with the question. “Oh. … Matcha cake? You don’t need to do anything though, we’re paid overtime.”
"Yeah, I know. But I still want to." Tachibana said. "And we all have our off days, right? At least we didn't get into forms and punching." He laughed.
Niou snorted in laughter and shook his head. “We’re talking about it more later, along with all your secrets, right? When I’m more sleep deprived?” He poked Tachibana. “When your roommate’s gone?”
"And when you're done with your work, yes." Tachibana didn't really want to, but he knew just ignoring it was not an option. "I'll be a completely open book then."
“I’ll schedule a shift off, then,” Niou said. Once both teams were gone and they were 100% sure that the tech was working so they wouldn’t have to go out and save them or attempt to talk them through repairs. “I think I know what your secrets are anyway, Kippei. So hopefully it’s not as big of a surprise to me as last time.”
"We'll have to see." Tachibana smiled. "For now, we'll both work hard. You look almost ready to be up for another 48 hours." It was a joke. It was half of a joke. "...and for what it's worth, your set up under your desk isn't the worst sleeping conditions I've encountered."
Niou was silent as he self-assessed. “Not 48 hours. Maybe… 40 though if I have another nap in the middle.” And then he may need to lie down and get more than an hour of sleep. He laughed and patted Tachibana on the shoulder in appreciation. “I’ve also slept worse, this is quite luxurious. And you need to move and let me get out from under here, or else Renji will think we’re doing something really suspicious.”
Tachibana was quite glad to hear Niou wouldn’t be going a full 48 hours with no sleep. “Oh!” He moved, standing up and wincing as his back popped. “Hopefully he doesn’t bother checking on you that often…?” Of course, if Yanagi had gone through the trouble of locking Niou up, he probably was. “Well, I’ll get going. See you later?”
“I’m actually convinced he watches all the cameras at once, simultaneously. 100 eyes and all that.” Or had a very clever algorithm running that alerted him when anything looked slightly suspicious. Niou crawled out from under the desk and waved at the camera once he was in view. “Yeah. I’ll see you later. Thank you for the extra meal.”
Tachibana actually shivered at that though as he headed for the door. “No problem.” he smiled, stealing one more glance at the camera before heading out.
When: UHHH. 31 July??
Where: Niou's office!
What: Niou and Tachibana do some dodgy things and avoid having a proper conversation
Tachibana was nervous as he headed down to engineering. His last conversation with Niou had been strained, but luckily, Niou seemed to be willing to leave it be for now. He brought some food, just in case, and headed down to where Niou normally worked. He spotted his friend working and cleared his throat. “Hey, is it a bad time?” He asked. If so, he would just leave the food and go.
Niou jumped at the sudden interruption, nearly dropping the almost finished metal detector. He'd gotten so used to blocking out the sounds of the other engineers the last few days he hadn't noticed. And oh, Tachibana. "No, I can take my break. I'm due for one anyway." Niou grinned and hopped off his stool, waving Tachibana to follow him. "Let's go into my office and we can chat in private."
Tachibana nodded and followed Niou, meeting eyes with a few engineers as he did so. “I know you didn’t ask for a second meal today, but I brought one. You can share it if it’s too much food.” He smiled. He was so used to seeing Niou with the chickens that seeing him at his actual job was still taking some getting used to.
"Oh good, I can report to Renji about it, before he decides he needs to intervene and… lock me in a room until I eat a sufficient amount of something." Niou just sounded unimpressed at the idea. He shooed Tachibana into his office and closed and locked the door behind them. "He was starting to get a bit judgey earlier."
Tachibana sighed at the thought of Yanagi and his strange methods. “I still think there was a better way.” He put the food down before taking a good look at Niou. “Maybe they shouldn’t overload you with work and then judge you when you try to get it done.”
"Well it's better than the last expedition," Niou said cheerfully. "Because Sanada and I were doing all the tests while on the field, since we were so pushed for time." And thank god the "algorithm" had been smart enough for that. He poked at the food and then looked up at the camera to pointedly gesture at the plate, because Yanagi was 100% watching.
Tachibana followed his line of sight, and then looked back. “Still, I imagine you could have been given a more gracious time table.” Tachibana grumped. Nevermind that Niou was his friend, he didn’t like to see anyone overworked. “Do you think you’ll get everything done in time?”
"We're actually nearly finished everything!" Niou said and oh, he should wash his hands before he ate. "Which gives us one week to teach people how to use everything, and make any last adjustments." He wiped the grease off his hands and sanitised them. "Imagine if we'd had to do that last time, my cover would have been blown so quickly."
Tachibana chuckled. At least Niou seemed to be in good spirits. “You could have recorded an audio file and rigged up a manikin or something.” He wasn’t sure how dedicated Niou had been to the lie, but he was sure the other man could figure a cover out.
Niou laughed at the idea. “I mean, I’d already accidentally exposed it to you by that point, my concentration was definitely slipping.” He ate a mouthful of food and then another. “Do you get nervous at all, watching other people eat the food you eat?”
Tachibana laughed at the question. “I used to. When I was a kid and starting out, my food was toxic.” He pulled up a stool to sit down. “My poor family would constantly be sick, yet they still kept eating it.” He shrugged. “I eventually learned how to cook properly.”
… Toxic, huh. Niou paused eating and looked down at the container and then back up to Tachibana. “When you were working at the soup kitchen, right?” Niou ate one more mouthful before pushing the food towards Tachibana questioningly.
Tachibana nodded and looked at the food. “Yeah, the head cook there taught me a lot.” He smiled. “Finished already?” He knew he had made a lot, but he was still learning what portion size Niou needed.
“Well, you learned well from then.” And oh, no that was not his intention at all and Niou pulled the container back towards himself. “No, I just usually space out the eating of your meals over a few hours.” Niou frowned. “Renji was getting all judgemental and talking about three meals a day, but if I did that, I actually would just eat continuously over the 24 hours.”
Tachibana blushed at the compliment. “Thanks…” He chuckled when Niou pulled the food back toward himself. “I already ate, by the way…” He scratched his cheek in thought. “Yanagi-san is a smart man, but I don’t think he understands my methods well. The food I’m giving you has enough nutrients for the whole day. I wouldn’t just agree to a single meal without making sure you were still getting everything you needed.”
Niou paused and oh, Tachibana was sneaky. “So if I did want to go to two proper meals a day regularly, you’d have to make adjustments to the plan.” He narrowed his eyes at Tachibana. “That wasn’t me suggesting it, by the way. You already do too much for me.” When he’d asked for help, he hadn’t actually anticipated it resulting in a daily home-cooked meal, after all.
Tachibana nodded. “I would. But there isn’t really anything wrong with the way you’re eating right now. If you’re eating it throughout the day, you’re still maintaining a nutritional balance.” he raised an eyebrow. “I don’t feel like it’s too much. I enjoy cooking.”
“Well, if Renji kidnaps me again for my food intake, I shall expect you to defend me appropriately.” And maybe go around knocking S-O-S on the doors again, but he’d keep that bit of laughter-inducing amusement to himself. Niou picked at his food and then sighed. “It’s not just the cooking. You really do indulge me too much, I’m going to get so spoiled and greedy.”
“Maybe I should send him your meal plans before he gets that in his head.” Tachibana offered. Surely, if Yanagi saw how much nutrition Niou was actually getting, he would back off a little… right? “Would you prefer I stop…? Because I don’t mind doing it.”
“Maybe. It might save me a bit of grief if he tries to combine food and sleep.” Niou cringed at the very vivid memory of trying to figure out the stupid locking mechanism when he’d first been in that room. He tilted his head and considered Tachibana for a moment. “Just as long as you’re aware that whatever you start doing for me, you might be stuck doing for the next 5 years.”
Tachibana was already now planning to send Yanagi the meal plans, just in case. He sighed and smiled softly at Niou. “I’m okay with that. I don’t have much else to do in my down time…and if it helps you take care of yourself, it’s worth it.”
Niou rolled his eyes. “And people call me a workaholic.” But he did give Tachibana a smile in return. “And here you are, building a fish farm, while being a full time parent and doing extra care for the disastrous engineer.” He shook his head. “If you’re not careful, soon you’ll be sleeping 3 hours a night and running on fumes only.”
Tachibana idly tapped his fingers on Niou’s desk. “I don’t really sleep a tonne of hours to begin with.” He admitted. “Five tops, most days. I enjoy being busy.” He snorted thinking about Kin-chan for a moment. “And I’ll have you know, I share custody with Byodoin-san.” Seriously, if Tachibana had to be on Kin watch 24/7 he might actually die. “And you’ve helped me, too. So no worries.”
Niou was distracted from what was probably going to be a very hypocritical lecture to Tachibana about how 5 hours sleep a night was not enough, instead laughing at the thought of sharing custody. “And what, you hand him off in the morning to Byodoin for his shared custody time?” He laughed again and then sobered as he narrowed his eyes at Tachibana. “I think you’re more sneaky than you admit.”
"That is exactly how it works." Tachibana laughed. Feigning surprise, he gasped. "Sneaky? Me? What did I do?"
… Yeah that was definitely fake and Niou filed that away, to strengthen his suspicions about Tachibana being sneaky. “I think… it’s something that should probably be talked about at a later date. Along with your other secrets.” And he needed to change the topic before he let his too-rested brain go down that path again. “The blind spot from the cameras is that corner over there,” he said suddenly, nodding in the direction.
Tachibana laughed brightly. He really wasn't that sneaky, but Niou’s face was too funny. He followed Niou’s line of sight and nodded. "You are really curious, huh?"
Niou smiled. “Well, I didn’t exactly think to check behind your ears when I was washing your hair. And otherwise, I’ve seen… pretty much everything.” And touched pretty much everything too, which was a bit embarrassing to think. “Except what’s hidden by your hair and shorts. Of course I’m curious.”
"Like I said before, I don't mind." Tachibana stood up to head over to the blind spot. Once there, he beckoned Niou over. "Just remember, I get to see yours, too."
“Ah, with your supposed open book approach. Nothing to hide, really.” Niou followed Tachibana, glancing at the camera again as he shooed Tachibana a bit more into the corner. Right, now they both should be out of view, save for his feet. “Look and… touch for 5 seconds to check it wasn’t drawn on, right?”
"Nothing important to hide, anyway." Tachibana said, letting himself be moved into the right position. "Right…and if you would like, you can see mine, first." He offered.
“Maybe we have different opinions on what’s important.” And now that they were standing close to each other, Niou was starting to get nervous again. “Yeah, I want to see yours first. And then I might switch positions with you, just in case the camera angle is slightly wrong.” He reached out to poke Tachibana’s ear. “Behind your left ear, right? Come here Kippei.”
Tachibana nodded, leaning forward slightly so Niou could get a good view. He pulled his hair back, so the beauty mark behind his ear, midway to his throat, was visible. "Can you see it?"
Oh, there it was. Definitely very secretive with Tachibana’s long hair. “5 seconds.” Niou pressed a finger against the mark and rubbed it lightly and counted the seconds out, although definitely a fair bit slower than they really should be. And he finished with a little scrape of his nail, just in case. “It’s definitely real.”
Tachibana's mouth went dry at the feel of Niou’s nail. "Yeah, it's real…" He said, his voice soft. "It's not ugly, is it?"
What an odd question. “No? It’s a charm point, isn’t it?” Niou couldn’t resist and touched the mark again. And then he laughed, pulling his hand away. “Oh no, sorry. I owe you like 7 seconds now, I guess.”
Tachibana’s face was bright red. "It's alright…" He smiled shakily. "I'm glad it's not ugly." He had never actually seen it closely, of course.
Niou just smiled in confusion and okay okay, he had to show his secret charm point too. Which, he kind of regretted not picking a different one. “Right. Out of the way, Kippei.” He patted Tachibana on the arm to move and slipped between him and the wall. And then used both hands to position Tachibana so he was properly angled mostly out of sight of the camera. And oh god why was his heart racing right now.
Tachibana’s heart was racing as well. Being jammed into a corner was enough, but Niou manhandling him was another thing. "Whenever you're ready."
Niou undid the zip and buttons holding the coveralls shut and pulled them down to his waist. And he was already starting to flush as he gripped the bottom of his shirt. “... Looking and then… just tell me before you touch, okay? And I’ll count the 7 seconds.” And before he could chicken out, Niou pulled his shirt up to his neck so Tachibana could see. “Left side.” Just in case.
Tachibana really didn't mean to stare as Niou stripped, but how could he not? Once the shirt was up, he spotted the charm point quite easily against Niou’s pale skin. "I'm going to touch it now…" he said, his voice almost a whisper.
Why didn’t he tell Tachibana about the mark on his back, or on his hip or something, Niou thought hysterically as he glanced up at Tachibana’s face and then turned red. “Okay.” He had to whisper back, trying to calm his breathing and heart.
Tachibana gingerly pressed his fingers against Niou’s skin, touching the mark carefully. He was ready to count along with Niou, even as he decided to pay Niou back in kind, and scraped a nail across the mark. “Seems to be real as well…”
"One, two, three– oh god," Niou inhaled sharply and clenched his fingers in his shirt. "It's definitely real," he said and what number had he gotten up to? "I'd ask if it's ugly, but I know it's not." He was maybe sounding a bit tense and Tachibana could probably feel his heart under his hand. "You've still got… 4 seconds to go."
Tachibana almost withdrew his hand. Niou’s heart was beating so fast. “It’s not ugly, it’s beautiful.” He was focusing so much on be careful with his touch that he didn’t even realize how cheesy that sounded. “Four seconds, got it…”
Niou managed a laugh. "That doesn't count, you think I'm attractive, so." His toes curled and he shifted slightly on the spot. And then reached out to tug Tachibana a bit closer, to make sure he was definitely out of sight of the camera.
God, this was torture. Did Niou even realize what he was doing to Tachibana? They were now so close, Tachibana could feel Niou’s breath. “Fuck…” He had to withdraw his hand before the seventh second. “I can’t…” He couldn’t hold out that long without doing something stupid. “Sorry…”
Niou counted out the remaining seconds, getting more tense as they got closer. And then laughed as Tachibana suddenly pulled away. "Too hard?" he asked, feeling probably as stretched thin as Tachibana did. Niou tugged down his shirt.
Tachibana’s face was bright red, and he turned his head away, but he nodded. “Too hard.” He rasped out. “Too tempting. Let’s not do that again.” He didn’t want to do something that would not only be stupid, but would ruin their friendship. “Sorry.”
He fidgeted awkwardly because one part of him was rather enjoying seeing Tachibana's face so red, even though his own was in much the same state, but also… maybe a bit far. "That's okay." Niou did tug up his shirt one more time though to show Tachibana his belly. "Quickly though, just to prove I do have an innie."
Tachibana looked, because he couldn’t stop himself. “Masaharu…” He ran a hand down his face. “It’s very cute, but do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?”
Niou fixed up his shirt and he should probably put on the coveralls properly again but… later. "I think I can take a pretty good guess," he admitted, glancing over Tachibana's face. "I do actually know a little."
“Is it part of your experiments?” Tachibana asked. “To see how far you can push me?” He wasn’t sure why he was so upset about this. He had agreed to it, after all. Perhaps he had just finally found his limit. “Or is there another goal in mind?”
Niou blinked at the questions and tilted his head, leaning back against the wall. "Is that what you think I'm doing?" he asked back, frowning at Tachibana. "What if I'm just looking to see how far I can push myself? Is that more acceptable?"
Tachibana scratched his neck, closing his eyes to take a breath. "Sorry…I know that. I know that's the point. Just feeling a little on edge." He took a moment to calm himself. "It's just…the further we push you, I'm being pulled in and I'm worried the cable might snap sooner than I thought."
If Niou was feeling more daring, he might… do something very stupid and push Tachibana further, but he crossed his arms over his chest instead. He was silent for a while, frowning. "Worried it'll be too hard to be friends…?" he guessed. "Even though you said before your only boundary between them was sex?"
"I'm worried my resolve will break and I'll cross a line." Tachibana admitted. "I'm only human, and having the person I desire letting me touch him like that was just a bit too much…" Tachibana was pretty sure at that moment that he was actually an awful person. "I don't want to go past the point of no return."
"I see…" Niou looked away from Tachibana's face as he thought and at least now his heart had stopped hammering in his chest. "That may make the exposure therapy more difficult." He glanced at Tachibana again and then away. "What about the hugging and kissing, then? Or is that getting too dangerous now too?"
"If we keep our clothes on, I should be fine." Tachibana said. "I don't want to stop completely." He just had to be more careful. "Is that okay?"
Oh. "I wasn't about to make something like that a normal thing!" Niou said, kind of horrified. "Next time you might count my ribs, I can't have that." He shooed Tachibana out of the way so he could get out from the corner, his face red again. "I definitely want to keep clothes on in the future, thank you."
Tachibana let out a sigh of relief. Okay, everything was normal, for now. "Then we'll be fine." He decided to break the tension even more with a tease. "Why are you so paranoid about me counting your ribs? Do you not have the same number as everyone else?"
“Are you still okay to try sleeping together?” Niou looked very solidly away from Tachibana as he asked, pulling the sleeves of his coveralls back on. He did smile a bit at the teasing though. “Maybe I have an extra rib, on one side. Or a missing one. And I’m self-conscious about normal rib-numbered people like you seeing it.”
"Yeah. I should be fine." He would just make sure to meditate beforehand or something. Tachibana laughed, nodding in understanding. "I see. I see. I am a little shocked you would assume I am a normal rib-numbered person without confirming, however."
“Good.” Since that was actually one of the selfish requests Tachibana had made, Niou assumed it was therefore kind of important to try. Niou paused and narrowed his eyes, partway through doing up the coveralls. “... So you’re fine with me touching you, and you taking your clothes off. Right?”
Tachibana nodded, even though he was pretty sure Niou Masaharu was going to be the death of him. "As long as I have at least shorts on, yes." He honestly did want to help Niou with his exposure therapy, he was just going to have to take cold showers more often. "So no worries there, alright?"
Niou sat down at his desk again and just looked amused. “I think maybe you might need to consider exposure therapy, Kippei. To get more used to seeing more bare skin besides my hands and face.” He laughed and pushed up one of his sleeves, waving his bared forearm.
Tachibana shook his head, heading back over to the stool. "It's a little different, Masaharu. I'm attracted to you, so of course it's going to affect me. You aren't attracted to me, so your mind doesn't wander when you see my skin." He playfully shielded his eyes. "Too much, please stop!" He laughed.
Niou laughed and tugged down his sleeve again, turning his attention to finishing buttoning up the front. He stared intently at his hands. “Who said I’m not attracted to you, by the way?” he asked casually, his eyebrows drawing together. “I don’t think I’ve ever been asked a question about that.”
Tachibana stopped laughing for a moment, then chuckled again nervously. "I mean…if you were attracted to me, wouldn't me being half-naked be hard for you?" He had just assumed, since Niou seemed relatively unbothered at the sight of Tachibana’s skin.
There were not enough buttons on his coveralls, Niou had decided, as he got up to the top button. “Did you know sleep deprivation affects sex drive?” he asked, now fiddling with the buttons on the sleeves of his coveralls. “I’ve been sleep deprived for…” he glanced up at the ceiling as he thought. “10 years? Something like that.”
Tachibana stared at Niou, stunned into silence. What was he trying to say? No, Tachibana knew exactly what he was trying to say. There was also the horror that this whole sleep thing was apparently a long term thing. "Masaharu…"
Niou spun in his chair a bit to look definitely away from Tachibana, and slouched some more to look up at the ceiling better. “You can ask me a question, since I know you have them,” he said. Because Tachibana was too polite to ask for permission.
Tachibana almost didn't want to. He was worried this would just be some joke… but for some reason he trusted Niou. "Do you find me attractive?" There, it was asked and there was no taking it back.
Oh, well that was more blunt than he’d expected. “I think you’re aesthetically attractive, and I’m pretty sure I’ve told you that before.” Kind of. Not in those words. “I like your hair.” Niou shrugged uncomfortably.
Tachibana doesn't know why, but he wanted to keep digging. "Is there anyone on base you could see yourself becoming attracted to, given enough sleep?"
Niou actually turned to stare at Tachibana because what the fuck was that question. “What, like ‘wanting to have sex with’ attracted to?” He laughed and looked up at the ceiling again. “I imagine I’d be restricted to the people who I actually tolerate touching me. So what, you, Hiyoshi and Jin.” Niou laughed again.
"I don't think it's me." Tachibana said bluntly. And then ran a hand down his face because he hadn't meant to blurt that out. "...No, what I mean is…I suppose I get a little scared this is Senri all over again. It's an irrational fear. It doesn't matter who you find attractive…"
“You’re getting dangerously into ‘I might have to punch you’ territory, Tachibana Kippei,” Niou warned. He looked extremely grumpy. “Shall I have a nap right now, so I can try and tell you if I find you attractive the moment I wake up and my brain thinks I’m actually well rested?”
Tachibana shook his head. "No. No. Sorry…" He went to press his head onto the desk and ended up going down harder than he meant to, effectively slamming his forehead on the desk. "Ow…" He rubbed his forehead. "Just a momentary lapse, I'm fine."
Niou jumped at the sudden noise and what the fuck? He turned to look at Tachibana in shock and… what? “There’s more effective ways to stop me from looking grumpy, you know,” he said, looking confused. “Ones that don’t involve you inflicting brain damage on yourself.”
Tachibana groaned. "That was an accident." He said. "But if you would like to share, I'm all ears." He laughed softly, giving his forehead one more rub to check for bumps.
Niou stood up with a tsk and moved to stand in front of Tachibana. "Push your hair back," he said, reaching out to tilt Tachibana's head up so he could look properly at his forehead. "You could also get better ways to snap yourself out of negative thought loops, if you're looking for new things to try."
Tachibana pushed his hair back, smiling up at Niou. "I'm willing to give anything a try." He was sure his forehead was fine, but if Niou wanted to check, he wasn't going to stop him.
He ran his fingers over Tachibana's forehead (and had to resist asking for the rating out of 10) before flicking him. "You're an idiot." Niou sighed loudly and moved back behind his desk. "Get up and come here, Kippei."
Tachibana was a little confused but stood up and went over closer to Niou. “I get that a lot, quite honestly…” He laughed.
Niou narrowed his eyes at Tachibana. "Sit down on the floor. I'm going to have a nap and you're going to hold my hand." He pushed his desk chair out of the way so he could crawl into the desk space to the pillow and blanket.
Oh, they were going to do that right now? Tachibana shrugged and sat down on the floor. “Don’t be mad if I fall asleep, too.” He joked. He studied the space under the desk and sighed. “I’m just going to assume you enjoy sleeping under here and leave it at that.”
“It’s a work in progress,” Niou said, pulling the blanket over himself. “Sanada’s building me something, since he took issue with it.” He was still grumpy, but stubbornly stuck out his hand for Tachibana to hold. “It’s also a blindspot from the camera, you know.”
Tachibana took his hand, recognizing that Niou was still not quite happy with him. “I’m sure whatever Sanada-san will come up with will be great.” He smiled. “...Is this position okay?”
Niou looked flatly at Tachibana from his curled up position. “You must have killed more brain cells than I thought with that hit.” He tugged on his hand. “I told you it’s a blindspot under the desk. I would like something from you right now, that wouldn’t be appropriate for the cameras to see.”
Tachibana must have hit himself harder than he thought because he was confused. “I’m holding your hand..” And then he thought about the camera and something Niou wouldn’t want the cameras to see. “...Ah. Which one?”
He waited impatiently for Tachibana to figure it out. “It would be quite difficult to fit you under here for a hug,” he said, glancing up and down Tachibana. “And the moment I’m out, Renji will see.” Of course, he’d see Tachibana half-under the desk but whatever.
“...Do you want a kiss?” Tachibana asked. He really didn’t want to assume, but at the same time, he was already holding Niou’s hand.
“If you ask me another question about it, the answer is ‘no’.” Niou moved their held hands onto his lap to pull Tachibana closer.
Tachibana let himself be pulled forward and decided he should probably be done talking for now. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Niou’s lips, hoping that they were well and truly out of sight of the camera.
Niou sighed into the kiss and it was a weird thing to feel some of the grumpiness leave and be replaced with his usual tension. He moved his free hand to the back of Tachibana’s neck to hold him there, pressing a bit closer for another kiss. And another. And another, until the grumpiness had dwindled down to an acceptable level.
Tachibana returned every kiss, gently squeezing Niou’s hand, his own tension from the whole situation beginning to ease. When it seemed like Niou was done, Tachibana smiled gently, but said nothing.
He let his hand drop and looked away, fussing around with putting his pillow into place and curling up around it, and cuddling under the blanket. “20 minutes,” Niou said. “If I’m not asleep in 20 minutes, then… I don’t think the sleeping together thing will work.”
Tachibana nodded. “Okay, then. I’ll watch the time.” He really hoped Niou could get some sleep, partly for a his own selfish reasons. He settled in, letting his back relax as much as it could so he could be comfortable.
It took about two minutes for Niou to realise the position just wasn’t going to work. It was awkward having one hand out from his ball. “Don’t move your hand,” he said warningly and he let go, rearranging himself to curl up around his pillow on the floor instead, his top half out from under the desk. And that was better, as he grabbed Tachibana’s hand again and tucked it close in his own grip. “20 minutes starting now.”
“Alright.” Tachibana nodded, checking to see what time it was before deciding to close his own eyes for now. He wasn’t sleepy, but he couldn’t really concentrate on a book, and a video would have been rude.
Niou was very aware of the passing time, even as he kept his eyes closed and measured his breathing, and kept Tachibana’s hand held close to his chest so the other man could probably track his heartrate. 10 minutes, roughly, and Niou grumbled, rolling onto his stomach to press his face into the pillow.
Tachibana had to shift a little when Niou moved, so his hand didn’t sit awkwardly. He looked at the time, frowning. It was already 10 minute past and Niou wasn’t asleep. He wasn’t so sure this was going to work after all.
The new position helped a bit, so his shoulder wasn’t digging into the ground as much. 16 minutes… 17 minutes… 18 minutes… Niou’s brain helpfully informed him as he very gradually started to drift off, his grip on Tachibana’s hand loosening.
Tachibana looked at Niou when he felt the other’s hand loosen, and then looked at the time. He dared not say anything, just noting they were slightly under the twenty minute mark. He closed his eyes, deciding to rest while Niou did.
Niou woke up quite abruptly, momentarily very confused about how he was sleeping lying down and where that meant he was. And he sat up with a groan and creaking of his joints, rubbing the lingering sleep out of his eyes. “Kippei, wake up. You weren’t meant to fall asleep too.”
Tachibana cracked an eye open. “Just resting my eyes.” He lied. He had definitely drifted off there for a minute. He was pretty groggy. “...Are you okay? How long were we…?”
“Long enough for me to dream about you touching me,” Niou said, groaning again as he stood up and stretched. Just over an hour, actually not too bad. Slightly longer than he would have wanted though. “You okay?”
Tachibana laughed nervously. “I mean, I was holding your hand…that’s what you mean, right?” He was actually impressed he had managed to doze off that long. “Yeah, I’m fine. That wasn’t long enough to make me stiff.”
“I appreciate that you’re trying to spare my dignity. I’m not going to elaborate.” Niou drank some water and was slowly restarting his brain. He held his hand out for Tachibana to take. “I need to get back to work. Unless you want to just keep sitting there while I work…?”
Tachibana blushed at the implication as he took Niou’s hand. He mulled over his choices for a moment. “I should probably get some of my reports in… but could I kiss you before I go?” As much as he would like to sit with Niou all day, he probably shouldn’t distract the engineer too much.
“So demanding,” Niou said with a dramatic sigh as he squatted down and scooted back under his desk to get away from the cameras, tugging Tachibana after him. “First you’re interrupting my work, and then my naps, my only free time is in the bathroom now.”
Tachibana chuckled. “I’m a nuisance, I apologize.” He kissed Niou, a hand on the other’s shoulder as he did so. “I’ll leave you be for now, but I’ll come bother you again before long.” He grinned. “I’ll make sure never to bother you in the bathroom, though.”
Oh, the hand on his shoulder was new and Niou focused on it a bit too much during the kiss. “Probably for the better. Too much exposed skin in the bathroom, it would definitely be too hard.” He pulled Tachibana back in for one more kiss - better now that he’d filed away the hand on his shoulder as a Thing.
“Yeah, I don’t think it would be a good idea, either.” Tachibana was rather bold with this kiss, what with the hand and the tiniest bite to Niou’s lip as their kiss deepened. When they parted, he was bright red and absolutely expecting to be reprimanded.”‘...Ah…I should probably go before the other engineers come looking for you…”
“I have a feeling Sanada’s told them behind my back to not disturb me when my door’s locked.” Since that usually meant he was sleeping and Sanada was weirdly caring about that. Niou looked quite steadily at Tachibana’s face. “I’m not going to break or something, if you push and be selfish, just so you know,” he said. “If you go too far, I’ll tell you. During whatever it is.” Niou took a deep breath and couldn’t quite hold back his ears flushing. “Biting and tongue is fine.”
Tachibana stared. “I figured you would, you don’t have to say it outloud…” He groaned. “...But I’ll keep that in mind.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Ah, after everything is done, I want to make engineering something, to thank you guys for your hard work. Do you know what Sanada-san would like? I know he likes tea…”
“You’re having some difficulty reading me today, I just wanted to make sure you knew 100%.” Niou shrugged. His gaze followed Tachibana’s hand through his hair until he got distracted with the question. “Oh. … Matcha cake? You don’t need to do anything though, we’re paid overtime.”
"Yeah, I know. But I still want to." Tachibana said. "And we all have our off days, right? At least we didn't get into forms and punching." He laughed.
Niou snorted in laughter and shook his head. “We’re talking about it more later, along with all your secrets, right? When I’m more sleep deprived?” He poked Tachibana. “When your roommate’s gone?”
"And when you're done with your work, yes." Tachibana didn't really want to, but he knew just ignoring it was not an option. "I'll be a completely open book then."
“I’ll schedule a shift off, then,” Niou said. Once both teams were gone and they were 100% sure that the tech was working so they wouldn’t have to go out and save them or attempt to talk them through repairs. “I think I know what your secrets are anyway, Kippei. So hopefully it’s not as big of a surprise to me as last time.”
"We'll have to see." Tachibana smiled. "For now, we'll both work hard. You look almost ready to be up for another 48 hours." It was a joke. It was half of a joke. "...and for what it's worth, your set up under your desk isn't the worst sleeping conditions I've encountered."
Niou was silent as he self-assessed. “Not 48 hours. Maybe… 40 though if I have another nap in the middle.” And then he may need to lie down and get more than an hour of sleep. He laughed and patted Tachibana on the shoulder in appreciation. “I’ve also slept worse, this is quite luxurious. And you need to move and let me get out from under here, or else Renji will think we’re doing something really suspicious.”
Tachibana was quite glad to hear Niou wouldn’t be going a full 48 hours with no sleep. “Oh!” He moved, standing up and wincing as his back popped. “Hopefully he doesn’t bother checking on you that often…?” Of course, if Yanagi had gone through the trouble of locking Niou up, he probably was. “Well, I’ll get going. See you later?”
“I’m actually convinced he watches all the cameras at once, simultaneously. 100 eyes and all that.” Or had a very clever algorithm running that alerted him when anything looked slightly suspicious. Niou crawled out from under the desk and waved at the camera once he was in view. “Yeah. I’ll see you later. Thank you for the extra meal.”
Tachibana actually shivered at that though as he headed for the door. “No problem.” he smiled, stealing one more glance at the camera before heading out.
