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Who: Niou and Sanada
When: Before the new expedition was announced
Where: Engineering
What: Niou proving to Sanada that he is totally fine and healthy and these two are very functional coworkers
Right, Niou was on a mission tonight, to prove to Sanada that he was totally fine and concerns were 100% not necessary. He’d actually managed an hour of having his eyes closed in bed and stopped by the kitchen to pick up his meal from Tachibana - thoughtfully in a container because Tachibana was a wonderful man. And now he just had to show Sanada the glorious results of his newfound lofty goal of self-improvement.
He found Sanada in the lab, in his usual dubious state of dress. “Oi Sanada. When you’re free and ready to finish up the shift, come into my office for a few minutes.”
Sanada looked up from the hydroponics equipment he was working on as Niou shouted at him and gave him a nod. He spent another five minutes tinkering on the part before he was satisfied he could leave it without forgetting where he had left off or the thing falling apart. Cleaning up his station a little, he washed his hands and tidied himself a little before heading to Niou’s office. As he walked, he debated about shrugging his work coverall back on properly but decided to leave the upper area tied around his waist. This would have to do for appropriate office wear for today. It was too hot to put on properly and he hoped after whatever Niou wanted, he could swap off and hand the shift over to Niou and go shower.
“What did you need?” Sanada asked as he peered into Niou’s office area.
After having been working with Sanada for months, Niou barely even noticed when Sanada happened to wear his work coveralls a bit less securely than how he probably should. But after the harassment by Yanagi and Sanada about exercise … maybe Niou was a bit more conscious of it.
“I’m proving to you that I’m not about to fall apart before I’m 26,” he said. “Come in. Shut the door.” Because he wasn’t about to let everyone else see. Niou picked up his container of dinner and showed it to Sanada. “See? Look at this very nutritionally appropriate meal.” That he was only getting because he’d freaked Tachibana out a bit but shh, leave that part of the story out.
“I have every faith you’ll survive until 27 out of sheer spite,” Sanada said. He glanced at the meal and at Niou and while he felt a little ridiculous, he closed the door. Was eating a balanced meal so scandalous that Niou didn’t want others to see? Maybe he’d only live to twenty-six and a half. “It does look like a solid meal.” It certainly looked more delicious than replicator food. “Did you make it?”
“I’m aiming for at least 30. And then I can perish.” He grinned though, to let Sanada know that he was just teasing. Niou tilted the container to show off the food a bit better as Sanada approached before putting it on his desk. “No, I asked Tachibana to make it for me. I’m not a great cook.” It had meant to be just an occasional meal, but apparently had gone a bit beyond that. “So I get one of these every day. And you know that since he’s all into nutrition plans and health, that it’s going to be actually balanced and good for me.”
“Ah good. The full length of your contract here,” Sanada said. He stepped closer to admire the food that Niou was showing off and gave a nod. “Tachibana is a trained nutritionist. I trust his skills in forcing you to take in the necessary nutrients.” And if Niou was lucky, the food he made would even be delicious and up to his high standards of pickiness. While he was pleased to see Niou eating something beyond cake, or perhaps eating at all, it did not explain the clandestine meeting.
“Yes, you won’t be getting rid of me before you can leave Izanagi, don’t worry.” Niou grinned at the approval of Tachibana’s cooking and put the container down on his desk. Excellent, one of Sanada’s concerns dealt with and out of the way. The second… maybe trying to convince Sanada that it was unnecessary for him to learn how to swim, or go running, or lift weights. Niou started pushing up the long sleeve of his shirt to show Sanada his bare upper arm. ”Look at this.” he pointed at his arm. “It’s not ridiculous like yours, but it’s got some muscle on it.
Before Sanada could react to what was either a reassurance or at threat, Niou was pushing up his sleeves. He blinked at Niou, wondering what he was supposed to be looking at until he gestured to what were maybe some muscles. It wasn’t that surprising that Niou had some muscles, he did manage to actually do his job even if he left the heaviest of lifting to the other engineers or himself. “I see…” Would it be rude if he also commented on how skinny his arms were overall? He didn’t want to discourage the man but he also wanted to help Tachibana fill him with food. “If you wore wrist weights while you worked it would help you build up more muscles.” There. That was fairly neutral and helpful, right?
Sanada did not look convinced at all. Not everyone could be blessed with sculpted arms and shoulders like Sanada, really. Niou came up a bit closer and moved to compare his arm side by side with Sanada’s and okay, maybe he shouldn’t have done that because that was depressing. “Or, the wrist weights would just make my arms tired and I’d make mistakes during my work,” Niou said. “And I don’t need to build up more muscle, there is definitely some there already.” He even poked it to demonstrate.
Sanada looked down at their arms and resisted the urge to flex. He didn’t need his muscles to be three times the size of Niou’s. His arms were already easily twice the size of Niou’s. “You can wear them doing paperwork and other things then. Start off light and build up. It’s a good way to exercise and build muscle without putting direct effort in,” Sanada said. “It’s what Renji did when we were younger.” It had been a compromise since Yanagi did not want to visit the gym as much as Sanada did but Sanada still wanted his friend to be suitably strong and fit. And now, despite how much he whined about it and acted like he was weak, Yanagi could actually lift a fair amount if needed.
Niou just looked deeply unimpressed with Sanada’s information dump about the benefits of wrist weights. Did Yanagi still wear them, Niou wondered vaguely… and then added the whole tale to his list of things to ask Renji when he had time. “I get enough of an arm workout moving things around here,” he said, rolling down his sleeve again. And he leaned against his desk to poke at his dinner. He would have preferred to actually sit and enjoy it in the kitchen, but he had a point to make to Sanada right now. “I can lift and move around heavy things if you don’t believe me.”
“Since nobody has complained about your on the job skills, I will trust you manage just fine. I still don’t think it hurts to increase your muscles and stamina,” Sanada said. He did not want to watch Niou start lugging around things around the room. This whole meeting was already strange enough as it was.
"That's why you're here as my fantastic partner in engineering, right? If I put on muscle, I wouldn't need to rely on you." With their respective skills being good complements and Sanada being left the heavy lifting. Niou bit back to automatic stream of questions that were bubbling up. "Really, you should be worried more about the number of people trying to get muscles like yours."
“Are you saying the only thing I bring to engineering is muscles?” Sanada asked. He knew Niou wasn’t serious but he couldn’t let that comment slide without comment. He knew that a lot of people thought he was just a brawny idiot who didn’t understand tech. Just because he enjoyed traditional arts and was serious did not mean he didn’t know how to build things and program the basic tech needed to make the base function. He nearly let out a sigh when Niou’s second sentence sunk in. “What? Why are people trying to get muscles like mine?” If he was somehow inspiring an increase in fitness and training that wasn’t so bad but he was a bit confused.
"No, I'm saying that because of your muscles, it makes you more capable of doing bigger jobs that involve more than just sitting on the floor or hunching over a desk," Niou said with an eyeroll. He also didn't think Sanada had the intense, single-minded hyperfocus to fuss over fiddly things that weren't his little origami bots.
Niou just looked flatly at him because… did he actually not know? "Because they think you have a good body? Maybe it's a good thing I don't walk around topless, or it might encourage more people to aspire to be like you."
“A bit more muscle and you could expand what you can do in engineering… and if you’re hunching, make sure to stretch often. Something like this would work,” Sanada said. He stepped back to demonstate one of his favourite stretches for when he was stuck doing paperwork or those times he got absorbed in something. “That Shishido guy would probably know a lot more but I can get you started.” He did a demonstration of another one that really helped ease tension in his neck and shoulders.
“And I still don’t get why seeing me would make people want to have my body. Not everyone has a body type that is suited for muscles like this. It’s also taken years of dedicated work to achieve and maintain.” He then frowned slightly as he took in Niou’s body. It was a bit scraggly but he thought if anything it would just encourage people to feed Niou and drag him to bed. He decided not to say that though. He didn’t want to make Niou skulk around even more than he did by working night shifts.
Niou stared at Sanada… stretching and was he trying to be helpful or something?? “I’ll keep it in mind if I ever need to stretch a different way to how I normally do after hunching over the desk?” he said faintly, just feeling very baffled by it all. “I don’t think I can ask Shishido for help though, he seems quite determined to just ignore me.” Which was fine, it made him laugh a bit.
Sanada was totally looking at him and judging and Niou narrowed his eyes, trying to read the expression. It was not a good one and he felt particularly judged. And oh, what the hell, he’d already shown off his arm to Sanada and the door was shut, and he was feeling particularly daring. Niou rolled his eyes and lifted up his shirt with one hand. “There you go, so you can fully judge.”
“Niou!” Sanada yelled as the man started stripping in front of him. Was he so shameless? He reached out to tug the shirt back down. “Eat more. And talk to Shishido about stretches or a massage or something before you get stuck hunched over. It’s his job. He can get over whatever thing you two have going on.” He had no idea why Shishido would be ignoring Niou’s existence but his best guess was that Niou had asked one too many annoying questions. It seemed to be a common problem among people if Niou got bored and focused on a person.
Niou laughed at the very dramatic reaction - extra funny considering he’d seen Sanada topless a lot and he’d just lifted his shirt up. “My collarbones are also very pointy,” he said, tugging down his shirt collar to demonstrate. “They were enough to convince Tachibana to make me food. Which I’m eating, by the way.” And just to prove his point, he did pick a bit more at the container. He grimaced at the continued talk about Shishido. “I’m not going to get stuck hunched over. It’s fine.”
“They are very pointy.” Was the only thing Sanada could think of to say after that. Why was Niou so weird sometimes?! “And eat your food, don’t play with it.” He wondered if he should go so that Niou could eat without him watching him. That seemed like something that would freak the other guy out.
Now that he’s done it, Niou was feeling a bit baffled with himself that he’d just flashed his skin at Sanada. What a strange thing for him to do. Niou pulled a face at Sanada but did eat a couple of mouthfuls of food, with a very pointed look at Sanada as he did so. And then nearly choked on one mouthful as he remembered: “Oh! And I needed to show you how I fit under the desk to sleep, so you stop worrying about that.”
Sanada was just about to excuse himself and make a break for it when Niou wanted his attention again. And for yet another strange thing. “What? Why? And how is that supposed to make me stop worrying?” Sanada asked. If anything, he was sure it would just make him worry more. They were fortunate enough to have their own office spaces but they weren’t that large and the area under the desk couldn’t make that spacious of a sleeping area no matter what innovations Niou whipped up for it.
“Because you seemed concerned about me sleeping under the desk, so I was going to prove to you that it’s very comfortable.” Niou put down his container on the top of the desk and gestured for Sanada to come over. He’d set up quite a nice cozy spot under his desk, really, complete with a couple of pillows and a blanket because despite saying that he’d try to sleep in his actual bed… he still napped under the desk sometimes. “See, plenty of room.”
Sanada, against his better judgement, walked further into the office and around the desk. He looked at Niou and then at the pile of pillows and blanket and then back again. “For a dog?” Sanada asked before he could stop the words from slipping out of his mouth. He had meant to think those words, not say them. Niou had already made it clear that’s where he was sleeping… apparently comfortably.
Niou's rather pleased with himself smile vanished at Sanada's question and his expression turned ugly. "I'm going to assume the testosterone impacted your brain for a moment there and you misspoke," he said, unfriendly. "Do you want to try again?"
Sanada blinked at that sort of tone from Niou. He had clearly put his foot in it. “Uhh I just worry how you’ll stretch out?” He asked. Niou was skinny but he wasn’t small and unless he curled up, he wasn’t going to fit under the desk. Though maybe he slept with his legs sticking out? Either way, he felt even more that Niou should see Shishido to make sure his body didn’t get stuck hunched over.
And just as quickly, Niou's easy smile was back. "I don't stretch out," he said, crouching down to shift the pillows and blankets aside so he could crawl under the table easily, curling up as he sat underneath. "It's quite comfortable. Just put a pillow here," he propped it on his knees, and showed how he could curl up and use it. "Or, sometimes I lean against the side…"
“I see we have different sleeping styles,” Sanada said neutrally. Niou looked quite proud of his desk-nest thing that Sanada didn’t want to insult it and get on his angry side again. “Perhaps we could place down something like a yoga mat or memory foam cushion as a base. Like a mini futon.” If he couldn’t convince Niou to go sleep in a proper bed for a proper amount of time without getting glared at, then he could at least try to nudge him in the right direction. Maybe he’d survive to 28 that way.
"Even in a bed, I don't often stretch my legs out," Niou said, though he did stretch his legs out now, sticking out from under the desk, slouching under so he could fit better. "I'm sure there's a lot of other things that take preference on the requisition list than a memory foam cushion. I'm fine, maybe I can sacrifice one of my blankets to add a bit of extra padding on the floor."
Sanada frowned at Niou, the man who seemed to have never met a rule he didn’t enjoy trying to find loopholes for, thinking that they couldn’t find him a proper base for his desk bed thing. “I will find you something and you will you use it… And you will not ask questions on where it came from.” Sanada was not afraid to use Yanagi and his own clearances to acquire or make something that would fit was required.
Niou raised his eyebrows at the pushiness of Sanada’s statement. “I see.” One of the couches was going to go missing, he would guess. Or someone in another room was going to lose part of their mattress. How hilarious. “I’m 175cm, if that helps you in any way.” Niou looked at Sanada for a long moment. “Was it you or Renji who decided that I was ‘friends’ material?”
“You said you don’t stretch out so it should fit the measurements of your current...set-up.” Sanada could not bring himself to say bed. Maybe he would be able to after he lined the under desk area with something more suitable. He was so focused on figuring out what he’d need and where to get it from that he nearly missed Niou’s question. “What? Friend’s material?” It’s not like he and Yanagi sat down with a list of people and decided who they could be friends with.
"Perhaps instead of a desk, we should build a little sleeping nook. Properly padded and all," Niou half joked, waving a hand over to the corner. "I could move my 3D printers into the main lab to make space."
He shrugged at the confusion. "You and Renji just seemed to randomly decide I was your friend. It came out of nowhere, and it seems to be a none or both thing with you two. So I wanted to know whose idea it was."
Sanada perked up at the suggestion of a sleeping nook and moved over to the corner he waved at to judge the size of it and what they could do to make the most out of the space. “Would you still want to sleep under something? Or could we do like a loft?” Either option would still leave room for storage or shelves of some kind. “And you’re my coworker, isn’t it natural to become closer over time? As for Renji…you’ d have to ask him.” Because they had basically grown up together and were good friends, they shared a lot of similar tastes, and that included people they called friends, but they didn’t agree on everything. And sometimes it wasn’t even about agreeing or consulting with each other. Things just lined up so that they both ended up doing the same thing at the same time.
“A loft would be fine. As long as I can make it reasonably private.” Because he didn’t trust people not to walk into his office, even though he locked the door. “I might even lie down on a loft, if there’s the space for it.” Niou looked at the space and tried to imagine how it would fit, filling in the pieces in his mind. Yeah okay.
People seemed so… weirdly blasé about the whole friendship thing and it… baffled Niou so much. Was being coworkers and decently pleasant to each other really all it took? Was Sanada friends with everyone in engineering, then? “I see.” He did not see. “Does being friends with someone also require you to worry about their wellbeing?”
“Really? So at least 180cm long, preferably a bit longer if there’s space.” Sanada pulled out one of his tape measurers he always kept on him and put against the wall, the green laser shining across the room to measure the distance. He did the same toward the ceiling and along the opposite walls. There might actually be space for a decent loft. He could get MIyuki to weld the main parts and then finish off the extra features. He’d have to double check the measurements for the storage and shelves and consider the best way to get in and out of it. But it could certainly give him something to fiddle with in his down time.
“Friendships shouldn't require anything. But normally you worry about your friends and want to help them,” Sanada said. He swapped out his laser tape measurer for a more traditional one to get a better idea of the printer sizes.
“I can actually lie down if I want, I just usually choose not to.” And slept in places that didn’t really allow it. Niou watched the measuring and continued thinking. It would actually be convenient to have a proper bed-like place to sleep down here… especially for when he did have to work longer hours than normal. “It wouldn’t have to be too wide either,” Niou added on helpfully. “I don’t see myself getting wider in the next 5 years, and it’ll only ever be me in it.” No letting anyone else ever sleep in there.
Niou looking at Sanada silently again, glancing from the tape measure, up to the walls and then to Sanada again. “So, is you building me somewhere to sleep here count as you helping a friend, then?”
Sanada gave a hum of acknowledgement and then pulled out his comm and a stylus to make a note of what Niou was saying and the measurements he was getting now. “Would you want dedicated lighting or power systems in it?” The basic structure would be easy enough to do. No more difficult than requisitioning materials needed for adding in storage or shelves. But the finer details and things to make it a functional and private loft space that Niou would actually sleep in would require a bit more work.
“And this counts as helping a friend, making sure my coworker can still do his job for the next five years, and giving me something different to do that isn’t just wall repairs and upgrading systems,” Sanada said. It was important to keep the base running perfectly and upgrading areas in need of it now that the base was firmly established and operating but a project done out of desire and not need and that wasn’t just from the UEA standard books was an appreciated change of pace.
Oh, now Sanada was actually taking notes and brainstorming about the whole thing, how nice. “A light up there would be nice. But I can install that myself.” But even then, it wasn’t like he couldn’t just blindly feel his way to the loft in the dark if he didn’t have a light up there. “You can probably guess I’m fairly flexible about where I sleep. I don’t like anything too soft.” Niou paused for a moment. “... but whatever you manage to find or requisition is fine.”
That made sense though, that Sanada was thinking about it in terms of helping himself as well. “I guess it’s something different, and probably easier to work through than another origami bot for Renji.” Less fiddly, more routine work of building. “Do I need to do something in return for this? Upgrade another bot for you?”
“This panel already has electricity for the printers so it wouldn’t be difficult to pop it off and run the wiring up and cut out another power point up top,” Sanada said as he made notes and did up a rough sketch. He’d let Niou take it from there if he just wanted to leave it as a power point or to wire in lights. “And I don’t need anything in return. This isn’t a favour.” He supposed he could make it one and get some help with a bot he had in mind for the future but he felt Niou probably just needed to see that friends didn’t always barter with each other for things. It was okay to freely give things. Besides, he’d already explained that it wasn’t completely altruistic. It benefited him, too in a way.
Niou glanced up at the ceiling and then down to the collection of 3D printers that were apparently going to be moved. “Yeah, once the printers are out of the way, I can just do it one night.” And just the idea of having the freedom and time to do a build like this was kind of hilarious. And the fact that Sanada apparently wanted to give up that time for free was… He stared at Sanada and narrowed his eyes. “I’ll give you an IOU,” he said finally. “And I’ll build you whatever you want in the future in return. Or I’ll mock up designs or parts for you, if you need it.”
“I don’t need an IOU,” Sanada said feeling a bit annoyed that Niou couldn’t just accept something done for him with good grace. “I’ll send you a few plans for the loft and storage system in a couple of days and you can tell me which one you like and if you want changes.” And if Niou insisted on an IOU, well it didn’t mean that he had to use it. Or he would find something simple and small to use it on if Niou really started getting shifty about it not being used.
“It doesn’t matter, you’re getting an IOU.” Niou said, looking annoyed right back at Sanada. And oh, Sanada was going to give him actual options to consider! “Sure. I look forward to seeing your innovation.” He paused. “I genuinely don’t mind sleeping under the desk though. I’m quite used to it. So if other jobs come up, do those instead. And we can move the 3D printers some other time.”
“Fine,” Sanada said. Accepting the IOU and planning on never using it. “And it’s fine if you prefer sleeping under your desk but there’s no reasons to keep the printers in here now that there’s space in the engineering lab. So we might as well use that space for something useful to you.” And the hope that was that if given the option of a loft and proper bed set-up and a nest of blankets and pillows under the desk that Niou would choose the loft and get some proper sleep.
“The reason they were in here was so I could run them easily while I worked.” Niou shrugged. “I can walk. It’s good for me.” He glanced around his office and… maybe he could convince Akutsu or someone to come and help him rearrange some furniture to make more room as a favour. “I’ll pay for the materials you have to requisition. Or pay for the replacements, if you take them from elsewhere. And fill out the paperwork.”
“It is good for you. And it will let others use them without having to come into your space,” Sanada said. He put his tape measurers away and walked back to the desk and leaned against it lightly. “And the deal was that you wouldn’t ask about where things came from, remember?” There were plenty of places to acquire things if you knew who to ask or where to look. And as one of the lead engineers, it was easy enough to place dibs on any extra materials that ended up. Besides, this could mostly be counted as a storage systems request and most of the materials should easily be approved anyway.
“Or they could just use the other 3D printers…” that maybe weren’t quite as good, but did their jobs. Niou’s expression soured at the reminder, even though he’d never actually verbally agreed to that part of the deal. “This is now significantly larger than the original idea though,” he argued. “My thing under the desk is working fine. If you want to make a cushion for me, that’s fine. I won’t question it. But I’m not a charity case, I don’t need you doing something this big for me for free.”
“You’re okay stealing 3D printers but not a couple pillows?” Sanada asked. Niou could be ridiculous at times. “This isn’t charity. We’re starting on upgrades all over the base. There’s no reason we can’t upgrade our own spaces. And I already explained it benefits me, too. Besides, I have an IOU now.” Niou was so stupidly stubborn at times. Is this what people felt when trying to get him to do something he didn’t want to?
“It’s not stealing them, I’m just using them better in my office than other people would,” Niou corrected him. “And I’m still using them to make things for the base, it’s not the same.” God though, Sanada was stubborn and Niou sighed loudly and with an annoyed edge to it. “The IOU was meant to be in exchange for the building of the thing, you can’t use it to get me to let you do it. It doesn’t work that way.” He huffed. “It’s fine, Sanada. I’ll just continue being a dog under my desk. Forget we had this conversation.”
“What? The IOU is for building it and part of building it is finishing it properly. Since when have you known me to leave a job half done?” Sanada asked. Did Niou think he was using his IOU to get Niou to agree to let him grab a few pieces of unwanted equipment? “You do realize I’m not actually going to be stealing things and getting reprimanded for it, right?” He might ask Yanagi to help but that wasn’t a big deal. They didn’t do favours between them really and if they did, he was pretty sure Yanagi would owe him favours for the next few years for coming all the way out here on short notice with almost no questions asked. If he wanted to requisition a few extra sheets of metal and pillows, Yanagi would give him the forms and a good reason why and make sure it was approved.
“Yes, but I’m giving you the IOU in exchange for all of that. To use on something else. Later. You can’t use the IOU to pay for it, that’s cheating.” Niou ran a hand through his hair, feeling weirdly very stressed all of a sudden. He sighed and moved to flop in his desk chair. “Why don’t… I build you something that you want? In exchange for you building me the loft? Then it’s like we’re gifting each other things.”
“How about you trust me to use the IOU when I want to,” Sanada said. He made a final note on his comms before shoving it back into a pocket. “Does me doing this really bother you that much? Because it’s not that big of a deal. It may be bigger than the bots I give Renji but in terms of time and planning, it’s a lot less.” Maybe if he phrased it like that, Niou wouldn’t be so bothered. Niou had seen Sanada spend hours working on little bots to then just gift to Renji to do with as he pleases and never expected anything in return.
Oh my god Sanada was just so stupidly stubborn and not getting it at all. “I don’t like being indebted to people,” Niou said, crossing his arms and being just as stubborn as Sanada right back at him. “It makes me feel like… it could be used against me at any time. So I always make sure to clear things first.” He knew it was stupid, he knew logically that friends were meant to… do nice things for each other, but it also just felt a bit wrong. “And especially something like this, since it’s literally just for me, no one else would be using it.”
Sanada stared at Niou. He couldn’t say he understood or that he got it. It was so far from any experience he had ever had in life. But he also suspected that if he kept pushing that Niou would throw him out of the office and somehow change the door code so he couldn’t even override it with his own. “Fine. You can gift me something.” The only problem was that he wasn’t sure what he wanted to ask for. The base certainly didn’t have all the comforts of home or even of Earth but he had managed to bring or build most of what he needed.
Oh good, Sanada had caved finally, instead of being stupidly stubborn still. It did make it harder though, since he now had to think of something that was equal to a whole loft and shelf space… “Something electrical, since it’s probably easiest if it’s something you can’t build yourself.” Although, now that he’d said that, there really was nothing saying that it had to be something he built. “Or, I’ll cover shifts for you, if you need to go on a date or something. No questions asked.”
“Dates?!” Sanada said. Where did that come from?! Of course it would be nice to have a couple shifts covered for hobbies or to rest but why did Niou mention dates?
“Yes?” Niou stared back at Sanada in confusion. “I don’t know, you might want to go on one down the track!” He didn’t know how Sanada’s mind worked! He was still getting his own head around… relationships with other people. “Isn’t that what people do?”
“Yes. And other things. But if it’s no questions asked for a shift covered, I’ll take it. I’ll try to give you some warning before it though,” Sanada said. He doubted Niou would actually use that warning to sleep and prepare like normal people would but it was still the proper thing to do.
“Hence why I said ‘date or something’.” Niou still looked confused. He nodded though and it really wasn’t that necessary to give him warning, just as long as he had time to take a quick nap under the desk. “Good. I feel better about that now. Let me know when you finish the plans.”
“I’ll send them to you so you can approve them or make changes,” Sanada said. He was happy to be back on smooth ground with Niou and not having to talk about dates or who either of them might be on dates with. “Was there anything else?” He had seen Niou’s food, noodley arms, and his nap zone now so that had to be it, right?
Niou nodded in agreement. He could also see just how ridiculous Sanada got with his designs and veto them if it was too much, which was a relief. He hummed at the question and he was sure there were other things he could show Sanada to prove that he was definitely in good health and fine and didn’t need him and Yanagi fussing… but maybe next time. “No, that’s it. I want to enjoy my meal now, thank you. I’ll let you clock out.”
“Enjoy. And I’ll see you in the morning. Don’t forget to make your move on the go board,” Sanada said. He gave Niou a small nod goodbye and then let himself out of the office, making sure to close the door behind him. That had been a strange encounter but he left it with permission to build a loft bed and something interesting for Niou and a promised shift off. Not a bad end to the work day even if Niou did have strange ideas about what proved he was living a good life.
When: Before the new expedition was announced
Where: Engineering
What: Niou proving to Sanada that he is totally fine and healthy and these two are very functional coworkers
Right, Niou was on a mission tonight, to prove to Sanada that he was totally fine and concerns were 100% not necessary. He’d actually managed an hour of having his eyes closed in bed and stopped by the kitchen to pick up his meal from Tachibana - thoughtfully in a container because Tachibana was a wonderful man. And now he just had to show Sanada the glorious results of his newfound lofty goal of self-improvement.
He found Sanada in the lab, in his usual dubious state of dress. “Oi Sanada. When you’re free and ready to finish up the shift, come into my office for a few minutes.”
Sanada looked up from the hydroponics equipment he was working on as Niou shouted at him and gave him a nod. He spent another five minutes tinkering on the part before he was satisfied he could leave it without forgetting where he had left off or the thing falling apart. Cleaning up his station a little, he washed his hands and tidied himself a little before heading to Niou’s office. As he walked, he debated about shrugging his work coverall back on properly but decided to leave the upper area tied around his waist. This would have to do for appropriate office wear for today. It was too hot to put on properly and he hoped after whatever Niou wanted, he could swap off and hand the shift over to Niou and go shower.
“What did you need?” Sanada asked as he peered into Niou’s office area.
After having been working with Sanada for months, Niou barely even noticed when Sanada happened to wear his work coveralls a bit less securely than how he probably should. But after the harassment by Yanagi and Sanada about exercise … maybe Niou was a bit more conscious of it.
“I’m proving to you that I’m not about to fall apart before I’m 26,” he said. “Come in. Shut the door.” Because he wasn’t about to let everyone else see. Niou picked up his container of dinner and showed it to Sanada. “See? Look at this very nutritionally appropriate meal.” That he was only getting because he’d freaked Tachibana out a bit but shh, leave that part of the story out.
“I have every faith you’ll survive until 27 out of sheer spite,” Sanada said. He glanced at the meal and at Niou and while he felt a little ridiculous, he closed the door. Was eating a balanced meal so scandalous that Niou didn’t want others to see? Maybe he’d only live to twenty-six and a half. “It does look like a solid meal.” It certainly looked more delicious than replicator food. “Did you make it?”
“I’m aiming for at least 30. And then I can perish.” He grinned though, to let Sanada know that he was just teasing. Niou tilted the container to show off the food a bit better as Sanada approached before putting it on his desk. “No, I asked Tachibana to make it for me. I’m not a great cook.” It had meant to be just an occasional meal, but apparently had gone a bit beyond that. “So I get one of these every day. And you know that since he’s all into nutrition plans and health, that it’s going to be actually balanced and good for me.”
“Ah good. The full length of your contract here,” Sanada said. He stepped closer to admire the food that Niou was showing off and gave a nod. “Tachibana is a trained nutritionist. I trust his skills in forcing you to take in the necessary nutrients.” And if Niou was lucky, the food he made would even be delicious and up to his high standards of pickiness. While he was pleased to see Niou eating something beyond cake, or perhaps eating at all, it did not explain the clandestine meeting.
“Yes, you won’t be getting rid of me before you can leave Izanagi, don’t worry.” Niou grinned at the approval of Tachibana’s cooking and put the container down on his desk. Excellent, one of Sanada’s concerns dealt with and out of the way. The second… maybe trying to convince Sanada that it was unnecessary for him to learn how to swim, or go running, or lift weights. Niou started pushing up the long sleeve of his shirt to show Sanada his bare upper arm. ”Look at this.” he pointed at his arm. “It’s not ridiculous like yours, but it’s got some muscle on it.
Before Sanada could react to what was either a reassurance or at threat, Niou was pushing up his sleeves. He blinked at Niou, wondering what he was supposed to be looking at until he gestured to what were maybe some muscles. It wasn’t that surprising that Niou had some muscles, he did manage to actually do his job even if he left the heaviest of lifting to the other engineers or himself. “I see…” Would it be rude if he also commented on how skinny his arms were overall? He didn’t want to discourage the man but he also wanted to help Tachibana fill him with food. “If you wore wrist weights while you worked it would help you build up more muscles.” There. That was fairly neutral and helpful, right?
Sanada did not look convinced at all. Not everyone could be blessed with sculpted arms and shoulders like Sanada, really. Niou came up a bit closer and moved to compare his arm side by side with Sanada’s and okay, maybe he shouldn’t have done that because that was depressing. “Or, the wrist weights would just make my arms tired and I’d make mistakes during my work,” Niou said. “And I don’t need to build up more muscle, there is definitely some there already.” He even poked it to demonstrate.
Sanada looked down at their arms and resisted the urge to flex. He didn’t need his muscles to be three times the size of Niou’s. His arms were already easily twice the size of Niou’s. “You can wear them doing paperwork and other things then. Start off light and build up. It’s a good way to exercise and build muscle without putting direct effort in,” Sanada said. “It’s what Renji did when we were younger.” It had been a compromise since Yanagi did not want to visit the gym as much as Sanada did but Sanada still wanted his friend to be suitably strong and fit. And now, despite how much he whined about it and acted like he was weak, Yanagi could actually lift a fair amount if needed.
Niou just looked deeply unimpressed with Sanada’s information dump about the benefits of wrist weights. Did Yanagi still wear them, Niou wondered vaguely… and then added the whole tale to his list of things to ask Renji when he had time. “I get enough of an arm workout moving things around here,” he said, rolling down his sleeve again. And he leaned against his desk to poke at his dinner. He would have preferred to actually sit and enjoy it in the kitchen, but he had a point to make to Sanada right now. “I can lift and move around heavy things if you don’t believe me.”
“Since nobody has complained about your on the job skills, I will trust you manage just fine. I still don’t think it hurts to increase your muscles and stamina,” Sanada said. He did not want to watch Niou start lugging around things around the room. This whole meeting was already strange enough as it was.
"That's why you're here as my fantastic partner in engineering, right? If I put on muscle, I wouldn't need to rely on you." With their respective skills being good complements and Sanada being left the heavy lifting. Niou bit back to automatic stream of questions that were bubbling up. "Really, you should be worried more about the number of people trying to get muscles like yours."
“Are you saying the only thing I bring to engineering is muscles?” Sanada asked. He knew Niou wasn’t serious but he couldn’t let that comment slide without comment. He knew that a lot of people thought he was just a brawny idiot who didn’t understand tech. Just because he enjoyed traditional arts and was serious did not mean he didn’t know how to build things and program the basic tech needed to make the base function. He nearly let out a sigh when Niou’s second sentence sunk in. “What? Why are people trying to get muscles like mine?” If he was somehow inspiring an increase in fitness and training that wasn’t so bad but he was a bit confused.
"No, I'm saying that because of your muscles, it makes you more capable of doing bigger jobs that involve more than just sitting on the floor or hunching over a desk," Niou said with an eyeroll. He also didn't think Sanada had the intense, single-minded hyperfocus to fuss over fiddly things that weren't his little origami bots.
Niou just looked flatly at him because… did he actually not know? "Because they think you have a good body? Maybe it's a good thing I don't walk around topless, or it might encourage more people to aspire to be like you."
“A bit more muscle and you could expand what you can do in engineering… and if you’re hunching, make sure to stretch often. Something like this would work,” Sanada said. He stepped back to demonstate one of his favourite stretches for when he was stuck doing paperwork or those times he got absorbed in something. “That Shishido guy would probably know a lot more but I can get you started.” He did a demonstration of another one that really helped ease tension in his neck and shoulders.
“And I still don’t get why seeing me would make people want to have my body. Not everyone has a body type that is suited for muscles like this. It’s also taken years of dedicated work to achieve and maintain.” He then frowned slightly as he took in Niou’s body. It was a bit scraggly but he thought if anything it would just encourage people to feed Niou and drag him to bed. He decided not to say that though. He didn’t want to make Niou skulk around even more than he did by working night shifts.
Niou stared at Sanada… stretching and was he trying to be helpful or something?? “I’ll keep it in mind if I ever need to stretch a different way to how I normally do after hunching over the desk?” he said faintly, just feeling very baffled by it all. “I don’t think I can ask Shishido for help though, he seems quite determined to just ignore me.” Which was fine, it made him laugh a bit.
Sanada was totally looking at him and judging and Niou narrowed his eyes, trying to read the expression. It was not a good one and he felt particularly judged. And oh, what the hell, he’d already shown off his arm to Sanada and the door was shut, and he was feeling particularly daring. Niou rolled his eyes and lifted up his shirt with one hand. “There you go, so you can fully judge.”
“Niou!” Sanada yelled as the man started stripping in front of him. Was he so shameless? He reached out to tug the shirt back down. “Eat more. And talk to Shishido about stretches or a massage or something before you get stuck hunched over. It’s his job. He can get over whatever thing you two have going on.” He had no idea why Shishido would be ignoring Niou’s existence but his best guess was that Niou had asked one too many annoying questions. It seemed to be a common problem among people if Niou got bored and focused on a person.
Niou laughed at the very dramatic reaction - extra funny considering he’d seen Sanada topless a lot and he’d just lifted his shirt up. “My collarbones are also very pointy,” he said, tugging down his shirt collar to demonstrate. “They were enough to convince Tachibana to make me food. Which I’m eating, by the way.” And just to prove his point, he did pick a bit more at the container. He grimaced at the continued talk about Shishido. “I’m not going to get stuck hunched over. It’s fine.”
“They are very pointy.” Was the only thing Sanada could think of to say after that. Why was Niou so weird sometimes?! “And eat your food, don’t play with it.” He wondered if he should go so that Niou could eat without him watching him. That seemed like something that would freak the other guy out.
Now that he’s done it, Niou was feeling a bit baffled with himself that he’d just flashed his skin at Sanada. What a strange thing for him to do. Niou pulled a face at Sanada but did eat a couple of mouthfuls of food, with a very pointed look at Sanada as he did so. And then nearly choked on one mouthful as he remembered: “Oh! And I needed to show you how I fit under the desk to sleep, so you stop worrying about that.”
Sanada was just about to excuse himself and make a break for it when Niou wanted his attention again. And for yet another strange thing. “What? Why? And how is that supposed to make me stop worrying?” Sanada asked. If anything, he was sure it would just make him worry more. They were fortunate enough to have their own office spaces but they weren’t that large and the area under the desk couldn’t make that spacious of a sleeping area no matter what innovations Niou whipped up for it.
“Because you seemed concerned about me sleeping under the desk, so I was going to prove to you that it’s very comfortable.” Niou put down his container on the top of the desk and gestured for Sanada to come over. He’d set up quite a nice cozy spot under his desk, really, complete with a couple of pillows and a blanket because despite saying that he’d try to sleep in his actual bed… he still napped under the desk sometimes. “See, plenty of room.”
Sanada, against his better judgement, walked further into the office and around the desk. He looked at Niou and then at the pile of pillows and blanket and then back again. “For a dog?” Sanada asked before he could stop the words from slipping out of his mouth. He had meant to think those words, not say them. Niou had already made it clear that’s where he was sleeping… apparently comfortably.
Niou's rather pleased with himself smile vanished at Sanada's question and his expression turned ugly. "I'm going to assume the testosterone impacted your brain for a moment there and you misspoke," he said, unfriendly. "Do you want to try again?"
Sanada blinked at that sort of tone from Niou. He had clearly put his foot in it. “Uhh I just worry how you’ll stretch out?” He asked. Niou was skinny but he wasn’t small and unless he curled up, he wasn’t going to fit under the desk. Though maybe he slept with his legs sticking out? Either way, he felt even more that Niou should see Shishido to make sure his body didn’t get stuck hunched over.
And just as quickly, Niou's easy smile was back. "I don't stretch out," he said, crouching down to shift the pillows and blankets aside so he could crawl under the table easily, curling up as he sat underneath. "It's quite comfortable. Just put a pillow here," he propped it on his knees, and showed how he could curl up and use it. "Or, sometimes I lean against the side…"
“I see we have different sleeping styles,” Sanada said neutrally. Niou looked quite proud of his desk-nest thing that Sanada didn’t want to insult it and get on his angry side again. “Perhaps we could place down something like a yoga mat or memory foam cushion as a base. Like a mini futon.” If he couldn’t convince Niou to go sleep in a proper bed for a proper amount of time without getting glared at, then he could at least try to nudge him in the right direction. Maybe he’d survive to 28 that way.
"Even in a bed, I don't often stretch my legs out," Niou said, though he did stretch his legs out now, sticking out from under the desk, slouching under so he could fit better. "I'm sure there's a lot of other things that take preference on the requisition list than a memory foam cushion. I'm fine, maybe I can sacrifice one of my blankets to add a bit of extra padding on the floor."
Sanada frowned at Niou, the man who seemed to have never met a rule he didn’t enjoy trying to find loopholes for, thinking that they couldn’t find him a proper base for his desk bed thing. “I will find you something and you will you use it… And you will not ask questions on where it came from.” Sanada was not afraid to use Yanagi and his own clearances to acquire or make something that would fit was required.
Niou raised his eyebrows at the pushiness of Sanada’s statement. “I see.” One of the couches was going to go missing, he would guess. Or someone in another room was going to lose part of their mattress. How hilarious. “I’m 175cm, if that helps you in any way.” Niou looked at Sanada for a long moment. “Was it you or Renji who decided that I was ‘friends’ material?”
“You said you don’t stretch out so it should fit the measurements of your current...set-up.” Sanada could not bring himself to say bed. Maybe he would be able to after he lined the under desk area with something more suitable. He was so focused on figuring out what he’d need and where to get it from that he nearly missed Niou’s question. “What? Friend’s material?” It’s not like he and Yanagi sat down with a list of people and decided who they could be friends with.
"Perhaps instead of a desk, we should build a little sleeping nook. Properly padded and all," Niou half joked, waving a hand over to the corner. "I could move my 3D printers into the main lab to make space."
He shrugged at the confusion. "You and Renji just seemed to randomly decide I was your friend. It came out of nowhere, and it seems to be a none or both thing with you two. So I wanted to know whose idea it was."
Sanada perked up at the suggestion of a sleeping nook and moved over to the corner he waved at to judge the size of it and what they could do to make the most out of the space. “Would you still want to sleep under something? Or could we do like a loft?” Either option would still leave room for storage or shelves of some kind. “And you’re my coworker, isn’t it natural to become closer over time? As for Renji…you’ d have to ask him.” Because they had basically grown up together and were good friends, they shared a lot of similar tastes, and that included people they called friends, but they didn’t agree on everything. And sometimes it wasn’t even about agreeing or consulting with each other. Things just lined up so that they both ended up doing the same thing at the same time.
“A loft would be fine. As long as I can make it reasonably private.” Because he didn’t trust people not to walk into his office, even though he locked the door. “I might even lie down on a loft, if there’s the space for it.” Niou looked at the space and tried to imagine how it would fit, filling in the pieces in his mind. Yeah okay.
People seemed so… weirdly blasé about the whole friendship thing and it… baffled Niou so much. Was being coworkers and decently pleasant to each other really all it took? Was Sanada friends with everyone in engineering, then? “I see.” He did not see. “Does being friends with someone also require you to worry about their wellbeing?”
“Really? So at least 180cm long, preferably a bit longer if there’s space.” Sanada pulled out one of his tape measurers he always kept on him and put against the wall, the green laser shining across the room to measure the distance. He did the same toward the ceiling and along the opposite walls. There might actually be space for a decent loft. He could get MIyuki to weld the main parts and then finish off the extra features. He’d have to double check the measurements for the storage and shelves and consider the best way to get in and out of it. But it could certainly give him something to fiddle with in his down time.
“Friendships shouldn't require anything. But normally you worry about your friends and want to help them,” Sanada said. He swapped out his laser tape measurer for a more traditional one to get a better idea of the printer sizes.
“I can actually lie down if I want, I just usually choose not to.” And slept in places that didn’t really allow it. Niou watched the measuring and continued thinking. It would actually be convenient to have a proper bed-like place to sleep down here… especially for when he did have to work longer hours than normal. “It wouldn’t have to be too wide either,” Niou added on helpfully. “I don’t see myself getting wider in the next 5 years, and it’ll only ever be me in it.” No letting anyone else ever sleep in there.
Niou looking at Sanada silently again, glancing from the tape measure, up to the walls and then to Sanada again. “So, is you building me somewhere to sleep here count as you helping a friend, then?”
Sanada gave a hum of acknowledgement and then pulled out his comm and a stylus to make a note of what Niou was saying and the measurements he was getting now. “Would you want dedicated lighting or power systems in it?” The basic structure would be easy enough to do. No more difficult than requisitioning materials needed for adding in storage or shelves. But the finer details and things to make it a functional and private loft space that Niou would actually sleep in would require a bit more work.
“And this counts as helping a friend, making sure my coworker can still do his job for the next five years, and giving me something different to do that isn’t just wall repairs and upgrading systems,” Sanada said. It was important to keep the base running perfectly and upgrading areas in need of it now that the base was firmly established and operating but a project done out of desire and not need and that wasn’t just from the UEA standard books was an appreciated change of pace.
Oh, now Sanada was actually taking notes and brainstorming about the whole thing, how nice. “A light up there would be nice. But I can install that myself.” But even then, it wasn’t like he couldn’t just blindly feel his way to the loft in the dark if he didn’t have a light up there. “You can probably guess I’m fairly flexible about where I sleep. I don’t like anything too soft.” Niou paused for a moment. “... but whatever you manage to find or requisition is fine.”
That made sense though, that Sanada was thinking about it in terms of helping himself as well. “I guess it’s something different, and probably easier to work through than another origami bot for Renji.” Less fiddly, more routine work of building. “Do I need to do something in return for this? Upgrade another bot for you?”
“This panel already has electricity for the printers so it wouldn’t be difficult to pop it off and run the wiring up and cut out another power point up top,” Sanada said as he made notes and did up a rough sketch. He’d let Niou take it from there if he just wanted to leave it as a power point or to wire in lights. “And I don’t need anything in return. This isn’t a favour.” He supposed he could make it one and get some help with a bot he had in mind for the future but he felt Niou probably just needed to see that friends didn’t always barter with each other for things. It was okay to freely give things. Besides, he’d already explained that it wasn’t completely altruistic. It benefited him, too in a way.
Niou glanced up at the ceiling and then down to the collection of 3D printers that were apparently going to be moved. “Yeah, once the printers are out of the way, I can just do it one night.” And just the idea of having the freedom and time to do a build like this was kind of hilarious. And the fact that Sanada apparently wanted to give up that time for free was… He stared at Sanada and narrowed his eyes. “I’ll give you an IOU,” he said finally. “And I’ll build you whatever you want in the future in return. Or I’ll mock up designs or parts for you, if you need it.”
“I don’t need an IOU,” Sanada said feeling a bit annoyed that Niou couldn’t just accept something done for him with good grace. “I’ll send you a few plans for the loft and storage system in a couple of days and you can tell me which one you like and if you want changes.” And if Niou insisted on an IOU, well it didn’t mean that he had to use it. Or he would find something simple and small to use it on if Niou really started getting shifty about it not being used.
“It doesn’t matter, you’re getting an IOU.” Niou said, looking annoyed right back at Sanada. And oh, Sanada was going to give him actual options to consider! “Sure. I look forward to seeing your innovation.” He paused. “I genuinely don’t mind sleeping under the desk though. I’m quite used to it. So if other jobs come up, do those instead. And we can move the 3D printers some other time.”
“Fine,” Sanada said. Accepting the IOU and planning on never using it. “And it’s fine if you prefer sleeping under your desk but there’s no reasons to keep the printers in here now that there’s space in the engineering lab. So we might as well use that space for something useful to you.” And the hope that was that if given the option of a loft and proper bed set-up and a nest of blankets and pillows under the desk that Niou would choose the loft and get some proper sleep.
“The reason they were in here was so I could run them easily while I worked.” Niou shrugged. “I can walk. It’s good for me.” He glanced around his office and… maybe he could convince Akutsu or someone to come and help him rearrange some furniture to make more room as a favour. “I’ll pay for the materials you have to requisition. Or pay for the replacements, if you take them from elsewhere. And fill out the paperwork.”
“It is good for you. And it will let others use them without having to come into your space,” Sanada said. He put his tape measurers away and walked back to the desk and leaned against it lightly. “And the deal was that you wouldn’t ask about where things came from, remember?” There were plenty of places to acquire things if you knew who to ask or where to look. And as one of the lead engineers, it was easy enough to place dibs on any extra materials that ended up. Besides, this could mostly be counted as a storage systems request and most of the materials should easily be approved anyway.
“Or they could just use the other 3D printers…” that maybe weren’t quite as good, but did their jobs. Niou’s expression soured at the reminder, even though he’d never actually verbally agreed to that part of the deal. “This is now significantly larger than the original idea though,” he argued. “My thing under the desk is working fine. If you want to make a cushion for me, that’s fine. I won’t question it. But I’m not a charity case, I don’t need you doing something this big for me for free.”
“You’re okay stealing 3D printers but not a couple pillows?” Sanada asked. Niou could be ridiculous at times. “This isn’t charity. We’re starting on upgrades all over the base. There’s no reason we can’t upgrade our own spaces. And I already explained it benefits me, too. Besides, I have an IOU now.” Niou was so stupidly stubborn at times. Is this what people felt when trying to get him to do something he didn’t want to?
“It’s not stealing them, I’m just using them better in my office than other people would,” Niou corrected him. “And I’m still using them to make things for the base, it’s not the same.” God though, Sanada was stubborn and Niou sighed loudly and with an annoyed edge to it. “The IOU was meant to be in exchange for the building of the thing, you can’t use it to get me to let you do it. It doesn’t work that way.” He huffed. “It’s fine, Sanada. I’ll just continue being a dog under my desk. Forget we had this conversation.”
“What? The IOU is for building it and part of building it is finishing it properly. Since when have you known me to leave a job half done?” Sanada asked. Did Niou think he was using his IOU to get Niou to agree to let him grab a few pieces of unwanted equipment? “You do realize I’m not actually going to be stealing things and getting reprimanded for it, right?” He might ask Yanagi to help but that wasn’t a big deal. They didn’t do favours between them really and if they did, he was pretty sure Yanagi would owe him favours for the next few years for coming all the way out here on short notice with almost no questions asked. If he wanted to requisition a few extra sheets of metal and pillows, Yanagi would give him the forms and a good reason why and make sure it was approved.
“Yes, but I’m giving you the IOU in exchange for all of that. To use on something else. Later. You can’t use the IOU to pay for it, that’s cheating.” Niou ran a hand through his hair, feeling weirdly very stressed all of a sudden. He sighed and moved to flop in his desk chair. “Why don’t… I build you something that you want? In exchange for you building me the loft? Then it’s like we’re gifting each other things.”
“How about you trust me to use the IOU when I want to,” Sanada said. He made a final note on his comms before shoving it back into a pocket. “Does me doing this really bother you that much? Because it’s not that big of a deal. It may be bigger than the bots I give Renji but in terms of time and planning, it’s a lot less.” Maybe if he phrased it like that, Niou wouldn’t be so bothered. Niou had seen Sanada spend hours working on little bots to then just gift to Renji to do with as he pleases and never expected anything in return.
Oh my god Sanada was just so stupidly stubborn and not getting it at all. “I don’t like being indebted to people,” Niou said, crossing his arms and being just as stubborn as Sanada right back at him. “It makes me feel like… it could be used against me at any time. So I always make sure to clear things first.” He knew it was stupid, he knew logically that friends were meant to… do nice things for each other, but it also just felt a bit wrong. “And especially something like this, since it’s literally just for me, no one else would be using it.”
Sanada stared at Niou. He couldn’t say he understood or that he got it. It was so far from any experience he had ever had in life. But he also suspected that if he kept pushing that Niou would throw him out of the office and somehow change the door code so he couldn’t even override it with his own. “Fine. You can gift me something.” The only problem was that he wasn’t sure what he wanted to ask for. The base certainly didn’t have all the comforts of home or even of Earth but he had managed to bring or build most of what he needed.
Oh good, Sanada had caved finally, instead of being stupidly stubborn still. It did make it harder though, since he now had to think of something that was equal to a whole loft and shelf space… “Something electrical, since it’s probably easiest if it’s something you can’t build yourself.” Although, now that he’d said that, there really was nothing saying that it had to be something he built. “Or, I’ll cover shifts for you, if you need to go on a date or something. No questions asked.”
“Dates?!” Sanada said. Where did that come from?! Of course it would be nice to have a couple shifts covered for hobbies or to rest but why did Niou mention dates?
“Yes?” Niou stared back at Sanada in confusion. “I don’t know, you might want to go on one down the track!” He didn’t know how Sanada’s mind worked! He was still getting his own head around… relationships with other people. “Isn’t that what people do?”
“Yes. And other things. But if it’s no questions asked for a shift covered, I’ll take it. I’ll try to give you some warning before it though,” Sanada said. He doubted Niou would actually use that warning to sleep and prepare like normal people would but it was still the proper thing to do.
“Hence why I said ‘date or something’.” Niou still looked confused. He nodded though and it really wasn’t that necessary to give him warning, just as long as he had time to take a quick nap under the desk. “Good. I feel better about that now. Let me know when you finish the plans.”
“I’ll send them to you so you can approve them or make changes,” Sanada said. He was happy to be back on smooth ground with Niou and not having to talk about dates or who either of them might be on dates with. “Was there anything else?” He had seen Niou’s food, noodley arms, and his nap zone now so that had to be it, right?
Niou nodded in agreement. He could also see just how ridiculous Sanada got with his designs and veto them if it was too much, which was a relief. He hummed at the question and he was sure there were other things he could show Sanada to prove that he was definitely in good health and fine and didn’t need him and Yanagi fussing… but maybe next time. “No, that’s it. I want to enjoy my meal now, thank you. I’ll let you clock out.”
“Enjoy. And I’ll see you in the morning. Don’t forget to make your move on the go board,” Sanada said. He gave Niou a small nod goodbye and then let himself out of the office, making sure to close the door behind him. That had been a strange encounter but he left it with permission to build a loft bed and something interesting for Niou and a promised shift off. Not a bad end to the work day even if Niou did have strange ideas about what proved he was living a good life.
