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Who: Tachibana, Akutsu, and Niou
When: Halloween, Oct 31
Where: Akutsu’s room
What: Private After Party
Tachibana decided that if they were going to have their own little party in Akutsu’s room, they needed more than just a few treats. He grabbed a serving cart and loaded it up with food before heading to Akutsu’s room. Instead of knocking, he rang a small bell he had found with the serving cart.
“Room service!” He called out.
With the knowledge that Tachibana was joining them, Niou had behaved himself. He'd left the party first, lazed around in Akutsu's room until he'd joined in being an anti-social hermit, and then chatted. And maybe somewhere along the way, his trousers had come off for more comfortable relaxing on the bed.
Niou snorted in laughter at the sound of Tachibana outside the door. "Jin, you get it." He rolled onto his side and hugged a pillow to show he was not getting up.
Akutsu rolled his eyes at Niou being lazy. "It's just Tachi. Ain't like you're showin' anything he ain't seen before." It had been a challenge not to pounce Niou once the pants came off, but he'd behaved too. He hadn't even started getting out of his costume yet, another measure to keep himself in check.
He got up, though, and opened the door, motioning for Tachibana to come in. "Welcome to the after party, Tachi."
Tachibana had not seen Akutsu’s costume, so it was a bit of a surprise. He tried not to stand there dumbfounded and wheeled the cart inside. “I brought more food.” He said, quite intelligently. Then he looked at Niou. “Haru, really?” Their shared boyfriend was quite shameless these days.
… How much food had Tachibana actually brought that he required a cart? Though he didn't actually know how much Akutsu had actually eaten and he… certainly hadn't touched anything. Niou grinned at Tachibana from the bed. "In my defence, I don't wear those trousers very often because they are actually uncomfortable to wear. And it's not like you're about to be shocked by legs. And I'm wearing underwear."
Akutsu stole one of the snacks off the cart, giving Tachibana a long-suffering look over the whole 'Niou in oversized shirt and no pants' thing, completely sure the guy could understand. "You see what I gotta put up with, Tachi? He's so cruel to me." With his free hand, he picked up the pillow off the spare bed and whacked Niou with it.
Tachibana had to nod in agreement. “He doesn’t understand what those legs do to us.” He sighed and grabbed a snack as well. “I feel kind of bad I didn’t dress up.” He shrugged as he went to sit in the spare office chair. “It was kind of loud and rowdy there when I left.”
Niou whacked Akutsu back with his pillow, at least sitting up and crossing his legs. And he put the pillow over his lap. "There, happy?" He glanced between them and… god this was weird. "I mean, I just thought you were being lazy and dressing up as 'handsome chef'," Niou said with a grin. "Meanwhile Jin dressed as a mob boss."
Akutsu whacked Niou again. "I just put on a fuckin' suit. No mob boss nothin." At one point he sort of remembered telling someone he was James Bond…but that person had looked at him like they had no idea who that was. "Don't worry 'bout it, Tachi. I'm bout to get outta this getup anyway." And because he really meant it, he took the jacket off, and actually bothered to hang it up properly.
“That’s a shame.” Tachibana said. “You clean up quite nice.” He smiled. “And I suppose a chef is better than nothing.” He moved closer to Niou. “Have you eaten?” He asked. He wasn’t sure what to really do right now, so he was trying to act natural.
Niou moved one leg out from under the pillow to kick Akutsu back in retaliation, tucking his leg back under safely after. "He does clean up well. Very fancy, nice hair styling." He glanced at the food cart and shook his head. "No, I haven't. You were busy cooking for the party, so," Niou shrugged. "I'll eat now though. As long as you made everything." And it wasn't Marui, trying to slip him poison or something.
Akutsu snorted, undoing a few more of the buttons on his shirt. "Don't either one of ya get used to it." …Okay, so he did appreciate the compliments, but like hell was he going to admit it out loud. He grabbed a black t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants from his drawers, then headed towards the bathroom to change. "Oh, if ya only want Tachi's food? Probably stay away from the desserts. I think Marui made most of 'em," he added, just as he closed the bathroom door behind him.
Tachibana sighed at the stipulation, but went ahead and made Niou a plate of food only cooked by Tachibana himself. “You’re still fighting with Marui?” He asked softly. It was all he could do to not look at Akutsu when he was undoing his shirt.
Niou tilted his head slightly as Akutsu left… why was he going into the bathroom to change? "I'm over it now. I got my revenge, so now I'm fine. I'm back to ignoring him." Because that was safer, since he found it hard to not just talk about relationships with Marui, which was apparently bad. "Even if I wasn't ignoring him though, I wouldn't eat his food. You know that." Niou patted the spot on the bed next to him though, for Tachibana to sit down.
Tachibana sat down next to Niou with the plate of food. "I suppose I am flattered, then." He smiled, handing the plate over. He knew Niou had issues with food, so he wasn't going to argue.
Akutsu changed quickly enough, but he also took some time to wet his hair in the sink and rinse out as much of the gel as possible, since he knew Niou liked his hair better without it. He towel-dried it as much as he could, and ran his fingers through the front to push it back out of his eyes, then went back to the main room to hang up the dress shirt and pants. "Well don't you two look cute," he smirked.
“You definitely should be.” Niou poked at the plate of food, leaning against Tachibana’s side as he tried to muster up the will to eat, but there was a weird growing twisting anxiety in his stomach that he was pretty sure was from the novelty of all three of them being in a room together. He stared at Akutsu’s hair when he reappeared. “And you’re looking… damp,” was his bad adjective of choice. Niou did purposely lean a little more against Tachibana though.
Tachibana instinctively wrapped an arm around Niou’s waist, like he often would do when they cuddled. Akutsu coming back into the room reminded him they weren't alone, but he didn't budge. He can't recall ever seeing Akutsu’s hair like that, but he didn't venture any words on that matter. "Thanks?" He offered instead.
Akutsu snickered a little as he moved to join them on the bed. "Just rinsed the gel out, is all," he replied to Niou's comment, settling with his back against the wall. He did put a foot against Niou's leg, just to be touching him too, but trying to be respectful of Tachibana & Niou's little cuddle session. "If you two look like this all the time, I'ma get cavities."
Ah, the thing Niou had been a bit concerned about - how to balance the fact that he liked cosying up to both of them, when they were together. "I'll sit on your lap later, as long as you promise you can continue behaving," Niou teased, picking at the food and starting to eat it. "We do sit like this a lot though, don't we Kippei?"
Tachibana chuckled. He honestly didn't mind if Akutsu wanted to be close. He smiled and nodded at Niou’s question. "Yes, especially when you're eating." It was one of his favorite things, really.
Using his foot to kick Niou gently, Akutsu smirked. "I will make no such promise." Especially not with Niou in his shirt like that. Besides, Akutsu still preferred to keep the softest side of himself incredibly private. It was one thing for Niou to see it and go run his mouth to Tachibana. It was another thing for Tachi to see it firsthand. "You two be as cuddly as you want. I'll just stare at ya and see how long it takes for you to feel awkward about it."
Niou grabbed onto Akutsu’s ankle, trying to settle his foot. “Go get yourself some food so you stop being a pest.” It definitely seemed like a challenge from Akutsu though, and Niou shot him a look before nudging Tachibana in the side. “Move your legs apart, Kippei.” He tossed the pillow at Akutsu before sliding to try and sit between Tachibana’s legs.
Tachibana was already feeling awkward just knowing Akutsu wanted him to feel awkward, but he obeyed because he was a sap and parted his legs. "Surely you can think of something more creative than just staring."
Akutsu didn't budge. He hadn't meant to make a challenge out of it, but…well. Why not? "Oh, I can think of lots of things…I was just actually tryin not to be a dick in the process, for once," he shrugged, putting his hands behind his head.
Niou settled between Tachibana's legs and leaned back against him to continue eating. "I'll need at least two examples of things you could do otherwise." He grinned at Akutsu. "Pretty sure you're losing your ability to be a dick, slowly."
Akutsu's eyes narrowed at Niou. "Pretty sure you don't give enough fucks for it to work on you, Masaharu. But poor Tachi… I could make him feel awkward real easy if I wanted." He hadn't forgotten about Tachibana's crush on him - it was why he'd changed in the bathroom, after all. But..Hell, all he'd have to do is like, take off his shirt and catch Tachi staring, probably. "You're smart. Use your imagination."
Tachibana nodded numbly. “Yeah, we don’t have to challenge that…” Tachibana said softly, leaning in a bit closer to Niou. “We can just hang out, nothing weird.” He was really trying hard to not make it weird.
Niou narrowed his eyes back at Akutsu. Was the use of his given name because he was meant to pay attention to that…? "I'm pretty sure I've told you, my imagination is mostly for anxiety and work purposes." He drummed his fingers on Tachibana's thigh as he thought. "Okay, quick question. If I kissed one of you right now…. am I allowed to kiss the other after? Or is that weird? Not enough of a break between?"
"Yeah, we gotta work on that." Especially calming down the anxiety part. "I guess it'd depend on the kind of kiss?" Small ones, probably fine. Tongue, maybe not so much? Then again, Akutsu and never watched someone he cared about kiss someone else, so there were no guarantees.
Tachibana nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’m not sure I want to watch you two swap spit right now…” He said. “But pecks would be fine…” It wasn’t that he didn’t trust himself on the jealousy front..he just wasn’t sure what kind of reaction he would have.
Niou gagged as Tachibana spoke and elbowed him. "Why would you describe it like that? Oh god I'm going to think about that every time now. I hate you." Oh no, that was a horrible thought to have now. "Both of you, banned from swapping spit with me."
Akutsu chuckled at Niou's reaction, well and truly amused by it. And then a thought occurred to him, and… Niou thought he was losing his ability to be a dick, huh? Well. They'd just have to see about that, and he managed to keep a completely straight face as he said, calmly, "I'd rather swap spit than sloppy seconds."
Tachibana winced at the elbow, and was laughing until Akutsu spoke. Then he just looked a little horrified. “...Why would you even say that…?”
Why was Akutsu bringing that up again? Niou's first instinct was to throw something at him, but that would probably be the plate of food that…would be a waste. "I'll hold you to that," he said, shooting a look at Akutsu. "Kippei, I wish to swap spit with you right now. And then I'm going to go sit on Jin."
Akutsu just laughed. He was, in all honesty, probably way more amused by the whole thing than he really should be. But he couldn't help it. "Like hell you will. Just cuz I'd rather do one over the other doesn't mean I wanna actually do the first one." He'd stand, if he had to. Couldn't sit on a lap if it didn't exist, after all.
Tachibana made a face. “Okay, when you say it like that, it does sound really unappealing.” He sighed. He really didn’t want to “swap spit”. He looked at Akutsu and then back at Niou. “I would rather not do that here, please.” Not with Akutsu watching.
"Then stop bringing up the sloppy seconds, especially now since I experienced it, fucking hell," Niou grumped at Akutsu, before he settled down against Tachibana again and poked at the plate of food again. "Oh my god, now I'm just thinking about swapping spit, I don't think I can ever kiss again." He ran a hand through his hair and huffed. "Change the topic."
Akutsu was still chuckling over Niou's reaction. He really just couldn't help it. By way of a…sort of apology, he shifted and leaned over, pressing a very soft (and completely spit-free) kiss on Niou's mouth, before settling back against the wall. "...So. Should we take bets on how hungover everyone's gonna be tomorrow?”
Tachibana wasn’t expecting that, but he turned his gaze away, just in case. When Akutsu parted, he sighed. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything, because of course he found the pne phrase Niou had never even heard before. “...Almost all of them will be…” He mumbled.
Niou sighed into the kiss and it was tempting to bite, but he behaved. "I'm pretty sure I heard Zaizen and Mr Oshitari's cousin getting pretty into the jello shots," he'd been kind of distracted by the chickens though. Niou twisted around (and ignored the pop in his spine oops), to press a kiss to Tachibana's mouth as well. "I hope they have horrific hangovers."
For a literal split second, Akutsu thought about completing the kiss circle (where the hell did that come from?), but instead he just nudged Niou's leg with his foot. "...We could have ones to match, yanno..." he smirked, glancing towards his closet where he'd stashed the latest supply of alcohol sent from home.
Tachibana was a little red because he hadn’t actually expected to be kissed. “I’ll abstain, thanks.” He said to Akutsu. “I don’t actually like to drink. I know, I’m boring.” He laughed at himself.
"Oh, I remember that conversation… you don't have to drink, Kippei." Which had been the unfortunate one where Niou had pushed a bit hard for an answer. He relaxed back against Tachibana and tapped Akutsu's food with the back of his hand. "I'll drink though. Although I got quite intoxicated from beer with your brother, so, no promises I can drink much."
Akutsu eyed Tachibana for a moment, at the no drinking comment. He didn't know as much about the guy as Niou, but he could make some educated guesses as to why. As for Niou, though… "...none of us have to. It was just a thought. I ain't sure I wanna see what you're like when you're drunk, Masaharu." Niou was weird enough all on his own.
"I'm sure Haru won't get drunk on just one." Tachibana said, just to ease the mood. "I don't care if people drink around me." He just preferred to not tempt fate. "I know most people use alcohol to loosen up."
"Depends on what the one is." Niou grinned at Akutsu. "Well, I got very cuddly with poor Hiyoshi." And he was endlessly grateful to Hiyoshi for putting up with him that night. "And I fell over a few times. And complained about the two of you quite openly. And showed him my buttplug." He started laughing suddenly and oh no, that night had been such a mix of horror. "I cuddled with him on Gakuto's bed, it was so bad."
Akutsu listened and just immediately facepalmed. "Yeah, no…none for you. Especially since I don't drink beer." It wouldn't take nearly as much to get Niou drunk… And even if Tachi was a saint, he was pretty sure the guy wouldn't want to deal with it. "Ain't gonna put poor Tachi through that traumatizing experience."
Tachibana tilted his head in confusion. "Just being cuddly doesn't sound too bad." He shrugged. "Although your choice of location was a little odd." Thinking about it, that must have been rough for Hiyoshi and Gakuto. "A dumber person might have thought you were doing it to Gakuto on purpose."
Niou had the decency to look at least a little embarrassed about it. "It's not that bad. I was sad and annoyed at you," Tachibana, "and Hiyoshi was the one that double booked himself. And I told him to leave me but he refused. I didn't choose to cuddle on Gakuto's bed." He poked Akutsu's ankle. "Give me a drink, Jin. You'll have to suffer through the traumatizing experience too, not just Kippei."
"As the only completely sober one in the room, yeah, it would just be him," Akutsu pointed out, although he did get up and head to the closet, shifting things around until he unearthed a bottle. He also got out a few bottles of water and brought them with him as he climbed back into the bed. "I still can't believe Piyo saw that," he groaned, opening the alcohol and taking a drink straight from the bottle before handing it to Niou.
The reminder that he had been the reason Niou got drunk was enough to humble Tachibana into not saying anything about the buttplug. Instead, he busied himself with what was suddenly a very interesting appetizer from the cart.
"What, you wouldn't cuddle me when you're drinking?" Niou shot back. He put his plate off to the side, blinking in surprise as he was just handed the bottle. Okay. "It wasn't like I showed it to him intentionally. It was just up in my loft and I didn't even think to put it away and hide it." Niou sniffed carefully at the bottle before drinking from it. "Besides, it was his fault for asking questions about it. He could have just ignored it. But no, he had to ask about the size. Entirely his fault." He took another sip before giving the bottle back.
"I don't get all touchy-feely when I'm drinking." He had to be pretty much plastered for that. Akutsu took another drink, a longer one this time, before capping the bottle and setting it aside for the moment. "Can we please talk about something other than how my half-brother approximately knows what's in my pants? Like maybe when you're gonna make one for Tachi?"
And that's what made Tachibana choke on his food. He at least had the sense to move away from Niou as he started hacking his lungs out.
Niou was about to come up with another topic, but then… fucking Akutsu Jin. "Oh my god. Why would you bring that up?" He tossed the pillow at Akutsu and followed it to purposely sit on his lap - screw Akutsu and his 'I'm not touchy-feely' bullshit. "I was thinking about it. Maybe." He paused in a moment of thought. "... Unless you meant making one of your size for Kippei… because uh…"
Akutsu had just enough time to toss Tachi a bottle of water before he found his lap full of white-haired obnoxiousness. "What the actual fuck? Why would I suggest that?! If you're drunk already, I'm gonna toss ya into the coldest shower ever." He didn't push Niou off of him…but as payback for that idiotic comment, he just sat there playing chair.
Tachibana grabbed the bottle of water and tried to drink it, but Niou just kept talking and making things worse. He held up a hand to stop the conversation while he managed to get himself under control. "I think I should go."
"No, you're not allowed to leave, Kippei." Niou paused in his attempts at getting comfortable on Akutsu's lap, which involved pondering how to best drape over him. "I wish to spend time with both my boyfriends." He pointedly patted the spot on the mattress right next to Akutsu. "Sit here. We'll change the topic away from buttplugs. Even if yours would be bigger than his."
Akutsu's eyes went wide and he clapped a hand over Niou's mouth. "Fucking hell, Niou, I thought you were tryin to get him to stay, not chase him out." He sighed and looked over at Tachibana. "Look, you know as well as I do there's no controllin our idiot. But I'll behave."
Tachibana sighed. "He's in rare form today." He muttered, taking another sip of water. "But fine. I won't leave. However, there has to be something non-sexual we can talk about…"
Niou could take a hint (... our idiot??). He pushed Akutsu's hand off his mouth and tucked his face into Akutsu's shoulder instead, hugging him around the middle. "Tell Kippei about how you nearly got hit by a giant boulder," he suggested, mumbling as he purposely tried to quieten himself. "And Kippei can tell you about his collection of spoons."
Akutsu put his hand on Niou's back instead, rubbing a little and running up to the back of Niou's neck. "Really, Tachi? A collection of spoons?" Somehow, especially for a chef, it didn't really seem all that surprising. "Like collector's item, special edition spoons?"
Tachibana shook his head, a little mortified at the topic at hand. "Just spoons I like…" He said. "Nothing too special. Nothing expensive…" He sighed. "A boulder sounds much more interesting."
Niou sighed, melting against Akutsu. "I thought about taking up whittling and making him one," he added in helpfully, still making himself behave. "But that seems unfair, since eventually all your favourite things might be dominated by things from me."
Akutsu snuck a little kiss to the top of Niou's head. "So. Sentimental spoons, then." Yeah, that fit. Akutsu definitely thought of Tachibana as the kind of guy who'd hang onto things for sentimental reasons. Such a nice guy. "Yeah, I'd rather not talk about the time I almost got pancaked by a giant fucking rock, thanks. Thank fuck Tez has a lead foot when he needs to."
It was nice, seeing the two of them cozied up and happy, even if Tachibana was third-wheeling it right now. "That's way more exciting than my stupid spoons." He laughed. "Or anything I got up to on my expedition. It was mostly just…awkward."
"Pretty sure both your expeditions were boring since you both spent large chunks of them talking to me." Niou patted the spot on the bed next to Akutsu again, more insistently this time. "Kippei. Sit here. I want to hold hands."
"Means yours musta been pretty boring, too. Weren't you out the same time Tachi was?" Akutsu asked, even as he reached over, grabbed Tachibana by the arm, and pulled him over, not giving the guy a chance to protest. "I'm just glad I don't have nightmares about giant fucking rocks chasin me down."
Tachibana was not totally prepared, so he was pulled over quite unceremoniously. He took a second to register what just happened before just holding Niou's hand. "Yeah, we were both in the first round."
Niou held onto Tachibana's hand, which wasn't the most comfortable position to be in, but it was fine. "And you arrived while we were out. And I snuck into your room like the day after we got back because you threatened to knock me out if I didn't sleep first. And I tried to touch your hair in your sleep and you had gel in it." And just to prove a point, Niou reached up to run the fingers of his free hand through Akutsu's hair, trailing down to his neck.
Akutsu chuckled a little at Tachibana being caught so off-guard. "Settle in, Tachi. I won't bite 'less ya want me to," he teased. He didn't try to stop Niou from running his fingers through his hair, since he'd given him permission to whenever he wanted…but he didn't quite relax into it like usual since it wasn't just the two of them. As much as he liked and trusted Tachibana, he wasn't quite at the 'completely let your guard down' level with him yet. "I don't always wash it out before bed, since I'm just gonna shower when I get up. No real sense washin my hair twice."
Tachibana turned red and looked away. "No, thanks." He chuckled softly. He looked at Akutsu, noticing the tenseness in his body language. "I get the hair washing thing."
Niou shifted his head to press a kiss to the side of Akutsu's neck before he settled again, returning his hand to one-arm hug him around the middle. And god, the two of them were bad at holding a conversation. "Favourite sleeping position. Tell each other about it."
Akutsu arched an eyebrow at Niou's request, because that seemed like a weird thing to try and have a conversation about, but…well. Niou was weird in general. "Side. Sometimes back," he answered with a shrug.
"Yeah, same, I guess." Tachibana shrugged as well. He shifted a little because holding Niou’s hand like this was starting to hurt. And then, like a popcorn kernel under heat, he blurted out. "The spoons really aren't that big a deal, I mean, people collect weird things all the time, and there's nothing girly or anything about it."
Niou blinked at the sudden outburst. … Okay then, Tachibana. He pulled away from Akutsu and moved to try his best to hug Tachibana without moving from his position on Akutsu's lap, which was extremely awkward. "I like your spoon collection, I think it's charming," Niou said, petting his hair. "Even more so since they're tiny spoons."
Tachibana's sudden proclamation made Akutsu state for a minute. Then he dumped Niou into Tachibana's lap since their boyfriend clearly wanted to hug him just then. "...how tiny are we talking?" he asked, suddenly pondering the idea of making a spoon for Tachi to add to his collection. Or something.
Tachibana’s eyes shifted from side to side for a moment, making sure Niou didn't fall. "Why did you have to mention they were tiny…?" He groaned. He could still salvage this. Possibly. "The next expedition, do you think it will be underwater?"
Niou moved to properly sit in Tachibana’s lap to cuddle up to him. “... the tinier the better,” he let slip to Akutsu, unable to bite back the smile. At least he didn’t laugh. And then put himself back into timeout by pressing his face into Tachibana’s shoulder. “Sanada and I have started pondering submarine designs, since we might have to build one. I’m a bit concerned about the water’s salinity though, it’s going to be shit to deal with.”
Akutsu stored the information away to consider later, smiling back at Niou. Tiny spoons… He'd have to possibly learn some new skills to do it, but it could be fun. "Couldn't you do somethin kinda like a reverse helicopter? Like, puttin the propeller on bottom instead of on top, or makin it spin the opposite way to push down instead'a pull up?" Akutsu said aloud, thinking aloud about the submarine idea.
Oh Good. Tachibana thought. His topic switch had worked. Except now he had nothing to say because he absolutely did not know anything about submarines or engineering. Instead, he loosely held onto Niou, not too tight unless he wanted to switch again.
"Not worried about the propulsion, worried about the rusting…" Niou sighed loudly and hugged Tachibana back, ideas whirling around his head. "Just thankfully, I don't think any of us can go, so I don't need to stress about it." He paused. "Ah. Hiroshi will be going."
"Rust. Right. Yeah, I got nothin for that," Akutsu shrugged. There was probably something that could withstand it…but that didn't mean they had access to it here. "Yeah, we all should be safe… Yags is probably too tough to croak. He survived you, after all," he smirked, poking Niou in the side. "Hippy Doc will be goin too, right, Tachi?"
“Chemistry might be able to make a coating for it, with help from desalination…” Tachibana mumbled a thought. He frowned and nodded. “Yeah, Senri is going this time. I mean, he’s a doctor, he’ll be fine…” But Tachibana was still going to worry.
"You are very rude," Niou said, pulling his head away from Tachibana's neck for a second to snip at Akutsu. And then returned to hugging Tachibana. He breathed out slowly and then suddenly grumped. "Why am I connected to so many doctors? This is the worst."
"So long as he's not the one that needs the medical attention," Akutsu remarked, slightly amused by the irony of that potential situation. But of course, for Tachi's sake, he did actually hope that didn't happen. He poked Niou in the side again. "Maybe I should work on some kinda doctor-degree for engineering or somethin."
Tachibana chuckled. “Oh, you can’t do that…then he would be completely surrounded.” He honestly thought Akutsu could achieve it, however. “And then what would he do? Go the completely opposite way and develop a Doctor kink?”
For that, Tachibana deserved a bite to the neck, Niou digging his teeth in maybe a bit harder than normal. "If I had a doctor kink, I'd go try and woo Hiroshi back," he said grumpily. "More money. Same amount of asshole-ness. But in one person, it's more efficient."
Akutsu poked Niou harder, just to mess with him, and maybe a little bit to punish him for the Yags comment. "....Maybe it's a good thing I ain't smart enough, then. I'll just stay my unobservant dumbass self. Prevent that doctor kink from bein a thing."
Tachibana hissed at the bite on his neck. That had actually hurt that time. “I see, we apparently have to become rich so that isn’t a threat, either.” He frowned at Akutsu’s comment. “I think you’re smarter than I am. Definitely more tenacious.”
Niou made an annoyed noise, batting away Akutsu's hand. Stop that. "I think I'm smarter than both of you," he said, still grumpy, though he did press a kiss to Tachibana's neck apologetically. "Smarter than Hiroshi too if he got his stick out of his ass and admitted it, but he won't. And if you keep poking me, Jin, I will move."
Akutsu gave Tachibana a very disbelieving look. "You been hittin your hippy-friend's pot again or somethin, Mr. PhD?" No way was Akutsu smarter than anybody who'd earned a degree. He poked Niou again, this time on the leg. "Oh yeah? Move where?"
“I never have.” Tachibana fussed. “That degree was more hard work than smarts.” He insisted. He tilted his head. Was Niou going to move laps already?
… The thought of Tachibana smoking pot made Niou laugh. "You're very smart too, Kippei," he soothed, patting Tachibana on the head. But nope he was definitely moving. And hopped off Tachibana's lap and the bed entirely. Niou filched the pillow from Akutsu's bed and went to lie down on the spare bed with it. And when he was there, it was safe to push up his shirt a bit to inspect his poked side.
"Isn't there some kinda sayin, though? Bout genius bein 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration?" Akutsu asked, chuckling a bit at Niou scurrying all the way to the other side of the room. He hadn't poked hard enough to bruise, but it was funny the way Niou checked anyway. "And to put in all that work? Definitely tenacious."
Tachibana shook his head. “Come on, now, you’ll give me a big head.” He laughed. He looked at Niou. “Come on now, Haru, he wasn’t poking you that hard.” He smiled.
"He's very stubborn, you won't convince him," Niou added in helpfully. Satisfied that there was no bruising, he stopped, but stayed on the bed. "And too humble and nice." He did at least tug his shirt down properly as he sprawled, to be thoughtful. "Just try and make him compliment himself, it's impossible."
Akutsu just shook his head. “Ain’t nice. Wish people’d quit sayin so.” There were lots of things he’d rather hear about himself; nice just wasn’t one of them. “An there ain’t nothin to compliment,” he shrugged, looking for something he could throw at Niou, since the pillow had been taken…but short of throwing food, there really wasn’t anything good, and he wasn’t about to start a food fight in his own room.
Tachibana thought Niou had been talking about him, but complimenting Akutsu sounded better. “I wonder why that, of all things, makes you feel uncomfortable.” He wondered out loud. “I get it, though. You spend your whole life being told how terrible you are and it sounds like that’s the only truth.”
Niou rolled his eyes. This was… a disgustingly common disagreement between them at this point. And even if he had been calling Tachibana nice, turning it on Akutsu was just as good. "You're definitely nice. I can give you a whole list of examples but you might not want Kippei hearing some of them." Niou grinned at them. "And you're also definitely super dokidoki in love and soft and sweet."
"Y'know, I ain't spent my whole life bein told I'm terrible." At the very least, his mother was constantly telling him he had a kind heart, and all that sappy stuff. But like Niou, she was heavily biased, so Akutsu didn't believe either one of them. "...Maybe you're the one that's been gettin into Hippy Doc's pot stash, Masaharu. Or ya need your head checked."
Tachibana nodded. “Right, of course not.” He knew there were people who thought Akutsu was great. Akutsu himself was the only one that disagreed. “Give Masaharu a break, he loves you.” He teased. Akutsu really did have some low self-esteem, huh? It was weird, seeing something like that from this side.
"I see the therapist once a week," Niou snipped back. For tea, and chatter, not actual therapy, but whatever. He sighed and shifted to roll onto his side to look at the two of them across the room. "He is very mean to me, Kippei. Too shy to say nice things."
Akutsu sighed and rolled his eyes. He said nice things, sometimes. Nice enough, anyway, in those screened conversations. “You sure do like to make shit up. And there’s a big difference between shy and private.”
Tachibana smiled, feeling a bit awkward. “Yes, I’m sure he’s very different when a third wheel isn’t hanging around.” He bowed his head toward Akutsu. “You don’t have to worry, I should probably get going. It looks like Masaharu wants some of your lovey dovey attention, and I wouldn’t dare ask to see that.”
"You're not a third wheel, Kippei," Niou said immediately. And then sighed. "I've been mean to Jin, so if you go, he won't give me 'lovey dovey attention', he'll probably just bully me." Because Akutsu was a dick like that. "Stay. Please."
“He’s right, Tachi, so stay put, or I’ll make you stay put.” And by that, of course, Akutsu meant go over, pick Niou up, and deposit him back into Tachibana’s lap…but leaving it ambiguous was more fun, especially depending on where Tachibana’s imagination decided to run with it.
Tachibana sighed. He was sure Niou was probably wrong, but he did say please. So he turned his attention to Akutsu, raising an eyebrow. “Not enough room in here for a running start.” He said. “I think I could avoid being lifted over your shoulder this time.”
Niou's eyebrows rose at the threat. And as much as he wanted to say that he wanted to see Akutsu lift Tachibana over his shoulder (the idea still made him laugh)... "Are you threatening to pin him to your bed?" he asked. "... I'm not sure you could pull that off."
Akutsu smirked. They’d both gone to interesting places with that, and…technically, Niou was closer to being right, even if he wasn’t quite. But instead of answering, or rising to the challenge, Akutsu just leaned back, hands behind his head. “Guess there’s one way to find out.”
Tachibana looked toward the door. He was closer. He could just escape. “We really don’t have to do that…” he said, scooting himself just slightly closer to the edge of the bed.
So Tachibana was already gonna try to make tracks… Well then. Akutsu bolted out of the bed, and didn't give either of the other two time to react as he scooped Niou up off the extra bed, turned around, took the couple of steps it took to carry him back to Akutsu's own bed, and then deposited Niou squarely in Tachibana's lap. "Consider yourself pinned, Tachi," he grinned, arms smugly crossed over his chest.
Niou yelped as he was rather rudely moved, and he kicked Akutsu. "Don't do that." Even if he did take the chance to push Tachibana backwards onto the bed and lean over him to pin him down properly. "Would've been more interesting if you'd done it yourself, Jin."
Tachibana was not expecting that, but at the same time, he took note of how kind of an action it was. Akutsu had to have known that if Akutsu himself had pinned Tachibana to the bed, Tachibana would have been mortified. “Are you going to let me up, Haru?”
Akutsu just stood there and laughed. "And risk him fightin' against me? Nah. This takes less effort, and is more amusing." For him, at least. "Never underestimate the element of surprise."
Niou shifted to straddle Tachibana and pin him down better. "No I'm not. I'll do Jin's dirty work for him, since he's lazy." The whole situation was a bit ridiculous, really. "Push me off and I'll tickle you mercilessly, Kippei," he threatened, leaning down to press a light kiss to Tachibana's mouth. "I know all your weak points, remember?"
Tachibana turned bright red, really not wanting to look like an idiot, but also realizing he was kind of already doing that. “Haru, please…” He really, really didn’t want to embarrass himself. “I’m sure Akutsu doesn’t want to see this…” he whispered.
Akutsu was way too amused, and he sat down beside them, leaning back on his hands as he looked them over. Poor Tachi's face was practically glowing. "You can at least let the poor guy sit up, Masaharu. Before all the blood in his face makes his head explode."
"If Jin didn't want to see this, he wouldn't have made me sit on you. I'm not moving. Or letting you up because you'll just move me off and try escape again." And Niou was going to solidly ignore that Tachibana could just probably easily kick him off now if he wanted. He kissed Tachibana again, before looking at Akutsu. "... May I kiss you, Jin?"
Tachibana hated that he could hear his pulse in his ears. He could probably easily push Niou off, but his mind was racing. And now Niou was going to just sit on him while kissing Akutsu? He seriously wondered what he did to deserve this.
Akutsu looked from Niou to Tachibana and back to Niou again. He absolutely wanted to kiss Niou, but…. Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure Tachibana could handle it. Not like this, getting a close and personal look. And as much as Akutsu liked to hold onto his asshole side, there were limits. "I think we should leave it up to Tachi."
Oh no, Kippei’s face was definitely ascending to higher planes of red, if that was possible. Niou gave him another fond kiss before he sat up, at least no longer fully pinning Tachibana down to the bed. Maybe the extra air would be good for him. He did sit on Tachibana’s hips though, to stop him from sitting up. “Up to you, Kippei. No spit swapping is necessary though.”
Tachibana adjusted and took a deep breath. "It's fine, you can kiss him. You don't need to ask…"
Akutsu actually felt bad for Tachibana. The guy looked miserable, and it made Akutsu wonder how to make it up to him. Probably the best thing he could do was unpin the guy…so as Akutsu leaned in to kiss Niou, he also wrapped his arms around him and pulled Niou off Tachibana and into his own lap instead. "Take a breather, Tachi…" he said in an unusually gentle tone, reaching over to ruffle Tachibana's hair a little.
Tachibana was a bit shocked at the touch, but closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. To show his appreciation, he didn't run away. "Sorry…I'm okay now." He said, which wasn’t totally convincing because he was still laying down.
There was something undignified at being moved around from lap to lap, but Niou would ponder it a bit later. For now, he followed Akutsu’s hand with his own to pet through Tachibana’s hair. “I was going to say, we should do this more often, until it’s totally normal.” Because it was a bit awkward, all being together in the room like this. “Forced exposure, you know. But… I don’t know if you’ll survive.” Tachibana’s face was still very red. It was cute.
Tachibana let out a soft sigh. “Maybe no pinning and kissing for right now.” He suggested. “But I can handle just hanging out.” He just didn’t want to let Akutsu see how easily he could come undone yet.
"That's fair." Akutsu actually felt a bit bad for his part in flustering Tachibana so much. He'd meant it in fun, but no matter how weirdly adorable Tachibana's red face was, there wasn't a point if not all of them were amused. He gave Niou a little squeeze around the middle. "We can behave. Right, Masaharu?"
Niou ran his hand through Tachibana’s hair again, still soothing him. “I always behave, excuse you,” he said, frowning at Akutsu. “I can even put pants back on, if you really want me to behave for Kippei right now.” He did think that the ‘not right now’ definitely implied that maybe one day in the future… but he’d keep that to himself, in case mentioning it made Tachibana embarrassed and want to leave again.
Now that Tachibana had a moment to breathe, he was calming down. "It's okay, I'm fine now." He chuckled softly. "It's just one of my downsides. I have absolutely no poker face." He shifted so he could see the other two better. "Sorry about that." He took Niou’s hand again. "Can we try this again?"
Akutsu smiled. "Not havin' a poker face ain't a bad thing. Means you're honest." And to show he was okay with trying again, he reached over and put his hand on the one of Niou's that Tachibana was holding.
Niou stared down at their hands and… "... This is really stupid feeling, you two," he said, extracting his hand from the hold awkwardly. "It feels like I'm meant to give some sort of rousing team spirit talk and we all hurrah after like in dumb shows, I don't know."
Tachibana stared at their hands as Niou let go before starting to laugh. "You're right. Go team?" He snorted before sitting up correctly. "Usually, you get drunk before stuff like that, right?"
Akutsu couldn't help it and laughed, too. It was kinda weird, but he didn't really care. "Don't look at me. Ain't never been part of a team. No idea how that shit works."
Niou draped his arms around Akutsu's shoulders to show that he was definitely not participating in this weird team spirit thing. "I mean, you're sort of on a team now, I guess. The 'keep Masaharu alive past 30' team. Fantastic team to be on. You're both captains."
Tachibana smiled. "I can deal with that." He said before a yawn escaped his lips. "Is it already that late…?"
Niou had to smile back. And then glanced around the room. "You were very busy with cooking for the party." He paused and returned to hugging Akutsu, happily burying his face on his neck. "You know, there's a spare bed in this room."
Akutsu nodded. "I don't mind if ya stay over, Tachi." It wasn't like there wasn't room. "It's gotten real late, and you worked hard." Even though he knew Tachibana's room wasn't extremely far away, there wasn't really a point in making him go when there was enough space here.
Tachibana thought about it for a moment. "It's tempting… but I should really make sure Kin-chan gets to sleep. It'll be chaos in the morning otherwise." He stood up, moving to pet Niou’s hair. "Try not to stay up too late, okay?"
He could always try and push more but… Tachibana was very stubborn about some things and Niou was too happy right now to want to poke that and get frustrated. "... I'll lie down in a bed at some point. But I cannot promise I will go to sleep."
Akutsu shrugged. "Suit yourself." As much as he wouldn't have cared if Tachibana had stayed…getting to have Niou to himself for a bit wasn't a bad thing. "Don't let the menace keep ya up too late," he only half-teased, resisting the urge to rub Niou's back for now, because he didn't want to rub it in. "And sleep well."
Tachibana's smile was at least apologetic for having to cut their hangout time short. "Oh, it's already past his bedtime, so he won't." He chuckled. "Rest well, you two." He said before heading out for the night.
"Night Kippei. You can come back if you want, just knock on the door with the secret knock. No promises I'll have clothes on though." Niou grinned into Akutsu's shoulder and hugged him a little tighter.
When: Halloween, Oct 31
Where: Akutsu’s room
What: Private After Party
Tachibana decided that if they were going to have their own little party in Akutsu’s room, they needed more than just a few treats. He grabbed a serving cart and loaded it up with food before heading to Akutsu’s room. Instead of knocking, he rang a small bell he had found with the serving cart.
“Room service!” He called out.
With the knowledge that Tachibana was joining them, Niou had behaved himself. He'd left the party first, lazed around in Akutsu's room until he'd joined in being an anti-social hermit, and then chatted. And maybe somewhere along the way, his trousers had come off for more comfortable relaxing on the bed.
Niou snorted in laughter at the sound of Tachibana outside the door. "Jin, you get it." He rolled onto his side and hugged a pillow to show he was not getting up.
Akutsu rolled his eyes at Niou being lazy. "It's just Tachi. Ain't like you're showin' anything he ain't seen before." It had been a challenge not to pounce Niou once the pants came off, but he'd behaved too. He hadn't even started getting out of his costume yet, another measure to keep himself in check.
He got up, though, and opened the door, motioning for Tachibana to come in. "Welcome to the after party, Tachi."
Tachibana had not seen Akutsu’s costume, so it was a bit of a surprise. He tried not to stand there dumbfounded and wheeled the cart inside. “I brought more food.” He said, quite intelligently. Then he looked at Niou. “Haru, really?” Their shared boyfriend was quite shameless these days.
… How much food had Tachibana actually brought that he required a cart? Though he didn't actually know how much Akutsu had actually eaten and he… certainly hadn't touched anything. Niou grinned at Tachibana from the bed. "In my defence, I don't wear those trousers very often because they are actually uncomfortable to wear. And it's not like you're about to be shocked by legs. And I'm wearing underwear."
Akutsu stole one of the snacks off the cart, giving Tachibana a long-suffering look over the whole 'Niou in oversized shirt and no pants' thing, completely sure the guy could understand. "You see what I gotta put up with, Tachi? He's so cruel to me." With his free hand, he picked up the pillow off the spare bed and whacked Niou with it.
Tachibana had to nod in agreement. “He doesn’t understand what those legs do to us.” He sighed and grabbed a snack as well. “I feel kind of bad I didn’t dress up.” He shrugged as he went to sit in the spare office chair. “It was kind of loud and rowdy there when I left.”
Niou whacked Akutsu back with his pillow, at least sitting up and crossing his legs. And he put the pillow over his lap. "There, happy?" He glanced between them and… god this was weird. "I mean, I just thought you were being lazy and dressing up as 'handsome chef'," Niou said with a grin. "Meanwhile Jin dressed as a mob boss."
Akutsu whacked Niou again. "I just put on a fuckin' suit. No mob boss nothin." At one point he sort of remembered telling someone he was James Bond…but that person had looked at him like they had no idea who that was. "Don't worry 'bout it, Tachi. I'm bout to get outta this getup anyway." And because he really meant it, he took the jacket off, and actually bothered to hang it up properly.
“That’s a shame.” Tachibana said. “You clean up quite nice.” He smiled. “And I suppose a chef is better than nothing.” He moved closer to Niou. “Have you eaten?” He asked. He wasn’t sure what to really do right now, so he was trying to act natural.
Niou moved one leg out from under the pillow to kick Akutsu back in retaliation, tucking his leg back under safely after. "He does clean up well. Very fancy, nice hair styling." He glanced at the food cart and shook his head. "No, I haven't. You were busy cooking for the party, so," Niou shrugged. "I'll eat now though. As long as you made everything." And it wasn't Marui, trying to slip him poison or something.
Akutsu snorted, undoing a few more of the buttons on his shirt. "Don't either one of ya get used to it." …Okay, so he did appreciate the compliments, but like hell was he going to admit it out loud. He grabbed a black t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants from his drawers, then headed towards the bathroom to change. "Oh, if ya only want Tachi's food? Probably stay away from the desserts. I think Marui made most of 'em," he added, just as he closed the bathroom door behind him.
Tachibana sighed at the stipulation, but went ahead and made Niou a plate of food only cooked by Tachibana himself. “You’re still fighting with Marui?” He asked softly. It was all he could do to not look at Akutsu when he was undoing his shirt.
Niou tilted his head slightly as Akutsu left… why was he going into the bathroom to change? "I'm over it now. I got my revenge, so now I'm fine. I'm back to ignoring him." Because that was safer, since he found it hard to not just talk about relationships with Marui, which was apparently bad. "Even if I wasn't ignoring him though, I wouldn't eat his food. You know that." Niou patted the spot on the bed next to him though, for Tachibana to sit down.
Tachibana sat down next to Niou with the plate of food. "I suppose I am flattered, then." He smiled, handing the plate over. He knew Niou had issues with food, so he wasn't going to argue.
Akutsu changed quickly enough, but he also took some time to wet his hair in the sink and rinse out as much of the gel as possible, since he knew Niou liked his hair better without it. He towel-dried it as much as he could, and ran his fingers through the front to push it back out of his eyes, then went back to the main room to hang up the dress shirt and pants. "Well don't you two look cute," he smirked.
“You definitely should be.” Niou poked at the plate of food, leaning against Tachibana’s side as he tried to muster up the will to eat, but there was a weird growing twisting anxiety in his stomach that he was pretty sure was from the novelty of all three of them being in a room together. He stared at Akutsu’s hair when he reappeared. “And you’re looking… damp,” was his bad adjective of choice. Niou did purposely lean a little more against Tachibana though.
Tachibana instinctively wrapped an arm around Niou’s waist, like he often would do when they cuddled. Akutsu coming back into the room reminded him they weren't alone, but he didn't budge. He can't recall ever seeing Akutsu’s hair like that, but he didn't venture any words on that matter. "Thanks?" He offered instead.
Akutsu snickered a little as he moved to join them on the bed. "Just rinsed the gel out, is all," he replied to Niou's comment, settling with his back against the wall. He did put a foot against Niou's leg, just to be touching him too, but trying to be respectful of Tachibana & Niou's little cuddle session. "If you two look like this all the time, I'ma get cavities."
Ah, the thing Niou had been a bit concerned about - how to balance the fact that he liked cosying up to both of them, when they were together. "I'll sit on your lap later, as long as you promise you can continue behaving," Niou teased, picking at the food and starting to eat it. "We do sit like this a lot though, don't we Kippei?"
Tachibana chuckled. He honestly didn't mind if Akutsu wanted to be close. He smiled and nodded at Niou’s question. "Yes, especially when you're eating." It was one of his favorite things, really.
Using his foot to kick Niou gently, Akutsu smirked. "I will make no such promise." Especially not with Niou in his shirt like that. Besides, Akutsu still preferred to keep the softest side of himself incredibly private. It was one thing for Niou to see it and go run his mouth to Tachibana. It was another thing for Tachi to see it firsthand. "You two be as cuddly as you want. I'll just stare at ya and see how long it takes for you to feel awkward about it."
Niou grabbed onto Akutsu’s ankle, trying to settle his foot. “Go get yourself some food so you stop being a pest.” It definitely seemed like a challenge from Akutsu though, and Niou shot him a look before nudging Tachibana in the side. “Move your legs apart, Kippei.” He tossed the pillow at Akutsu before sliding to try and sit between Tachibana’s legs.
Tachibana was already feeling awkward just knowing Akutsu wanted him to feel awkward, but he obeyed because he was a sap and parted his legs. "Surely you can think of something more creative than just staring."
Akutsu didn't budge. He hadn't meant to make a challenge out of it, but…well. Why not? "Oh, I can think of lots of things…I was just actually tryin not to be a dick in the process, for once," he shrugged, putting his hands behind his head.
Niou settled between Tachibana's legs and leaned back against him to continue eating. "I'll need at least two examples of things you could do otherwise." He grinned at Akutsu. "Pretty sure you're losing your ability to be a dick, slowly."
Akutsu's eyes narrowed at Niou. "Pretty sure you don't give enough fucks for it to work on you, Masaharu. But poor Tachi… I could make him feel awkward real easy if I wanted." He hadn't forgotten about Tachibana's crush on him - it was why he'd changed in the bathroom, after all. But..Hell, all he'd have to do is like, take off his shirt and catch Tachi staring, probably. "You're smart. Use your imagination."
Tachibana nodded numbly. “Yeah, we don’t have to challenge that…” Tachibana said softly, leaning in a bit closer to Niou. “We can just hang out, nothing weird.” He was really trying hard to not make it weird.
Niou narrowed his eyes back at Akutsu. Was the use of his given name because he was meant to pay attention to that…? "I'm pretty sure I've told you, my imagination is mostly for anxiety and work purposes." He drummed his fingers on Tachibana's thigh as he thought. "Okay, quick question. If I kissed one of you right now…. am I allowed to kiss the other after? Or is that weird? Not enough of a break between?"
"Yeah, we gotta work on that." Especially calming down the anxiety part. "I guess it'd depend on the kind of kiss?" Small ones, probably fine. Tongue, maybe not so much? Then again, Akutsu and never watched someone he cared about kiss someone else, so there were no guarantees.
Tachibana nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’m not sure I want to watch you two swap spit right now…” He said. “But pecks would be fine…” It wasn’t that he didn’t trust himself on the jealousy front..he just wasn’t sure what kind of reaction he would have.
Niou gagged as Tachibana spoke and elbowed him. "Why would you describe it like that? Oh god I'm going to think about that every time now. I hate you." Oh no, that was a horrible thought to have now. "Both of you, banned from swapping spit with me."
Akutsu chuckled at Niou's reaction, well and truly amused by it. And then a thought occurred to him, and… Niou thought he was losing his ability to be a dick, huh? Well. They'd just have to see about that, and he managed to keep a completely straight face as he said, calmly, "I'd rather swap spit than sloppy seconds."
Tachibana winced at the elbow, and was laughing until Akutsu spoke. Then he just looked a little horrified. “...Why would you even say that…?”
Why was Akutsu bringing that up again? Niou's first instinct was to throw something at him, but that would probably be the plate of food that…would be a waste. "I'll hold you to that," he said, shooting a look at Akutsu. "Kippei, I wish to swap spit with you right now. And then I'm going to go sit on Jin."
Akutsu just laughed. He was, in all honesty, probably way more amused by the whole thing than he really should be. But he couldn't help it. "Like hell you will. Just cuz I'd rather do one over the other doesn't mean I wanna actually do the first one." He'd stand, if he had to. Couldn't sit on a lap if it didn't exist, after all.
Tachibana made a face. “Okay, when you say it like that, it does sound really unappealing.” He sighed. He really didn’t want to “swap spit”. He looked at Akutsu and then back at Niou. “I would rather not do that here, please.” Not with Akutsu watching.
"Then stop bringing up the sloppy seconds, especially now since I experienced it, fucking hell," Niou grumped at Akutsu, before he settled down against Tachibana again and poked at the plate of food again. "Oh my god, now I'm just thinking about swapping spit, I don't think I can ever kiss again." He ran a hand through his hair and huffed. "Change the topic."
Akutsu was still chuckling over Niou's reaction. He really just couldn't help it. By way of a…sort of apology, he shifted and leaned over, pressing a very soft (and completely spit-free) kiss on Niou's mouth, before settling back against the wall. "...So. Should we take bets on how hungover everyone's gonna be tomorrow?”
Tachibana wasn’t expecting that, but he turned his gaze away, just in case. When Akutsu parted, he sighed. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything, because of course he found the pne phrase Niou had never even heard before. “...Almost all of them will be…” He mumbled.
Niou sighed into the kiss and it was tempting to bite, but he behaved. "I'm pretty sure I heard Zaizen and Mr Oshitari's cousin getting pretty into the jello shots," he'd been kind of distracted by the chickens though. Niou twisted around (and ignored the pop in his spine oops), to press a kiss to Tachibana's mouth as well. "I hope they have horrific hangovers."
For a literal split second, Akutsu thought about completing the kiss circle (where the hell did that come from?), but instead he just nudged Niou's leg with his foot. "...We could have ones to match, yanno..." he smirked, glancing towards his closet where he'd stashed the latest supply of alcohol sent from home.
Tachibana was a little red because he hadn’t actually expected to be kissed. “I’ll abstain, thanks.” He said to Akutsu. “I don’t actually like to drink. I know, I’m boring.” He laughed at himself.
"Oh, I remember that conversation… you don't have to drink, Kippei." Which had been the unfortunate one where Niou had pushed a bit hard for an answer. He relaxed back against Tachibana and tapped Akutsu's food with the back of his hand. "I'll drink though. Although I got quite intoxicated from beer with your brother, so, no promises I can drink much."
Akutsu eyed Tachibana for a moment, at the no drinking comment. He didn't know as much about the guy as Niou, but he could make some educated guesses as to why. As for Niou, though… "...none of us have to. It was just a thought. I ain't sure I wanna see what you're like when you're drunk, Masaharu." Niou was weird enough all on his own.
"I'm sure Haru won't get drunk on just one." Tachibana said, just to ease the mood. "I don't care if people drink around me." He just preferred to not tempt fate. "I know most people use alcohol to loosen up."
"Depends on what the one is." Niou grinned at Akutsu. "Well, I got very cuddly with poor Hiyoshi." And he was endlessly grateful to Hiyoshi for putting up with him that night. "And I fell over a few times. And complained about the two of you quite openly. And showed him my buttplug." He started laughing suddenly and oh no, that night had been such a mix of horror. "I cuddled with him on Gakuto's bed, it was so bad."
Akutsu listened and just immediately facepalmed. "Yeah, no…none for you. Especially since I don't drink beer." It wouldn't take nearly as much to get Niou drunk… And even if Tachi was a saint, he was pretty sure the guy wouldn't want to deal with it. "Ain't gonna put poor Tachi through that traumatizing experience."
Tachibana tilted his head in confusion. "Just being cuddly doesn't sound too bad." He shrugged. "Although your choice of location was a little odd." Thinking about it, that must have been rough for Hiyoshi and Gakuto. "A dumber person might have thought you were doing it to Gakuto on purpose."
Niou had the decency to look at least a little embarrassed about it. "It's not that bad. I was sad and annoyed at you," Tachibana, "and Hiyoshi was the one that double booked himself. And I told him to leave me but he refused. I didn't choose to cuddle on Gakuto's bed." He poked Akutsu's ankle. "Give me a drink, Jin. You'll have to suffer through the traumatizing experience too, not just Kippei."
"As the only completely sober one in the room, yeah, it would just be him," Akutsu pointed out, although he did get up and head to the closet, shifting things around until he unearthed a bottle. He also got out a few bottles of water and brought them with him as he climbed back into the bed. "I still can't believe Piyo saw that," he groaned, opening the alcohol and taking a drink straight from the bottle before handing it to Niou.
The reminder that he had been the reason Niou got drunk was enough to humble Tachibana into not saying anything about the buttplug. Instead, he busied himself with what was suddenly a very interesting appetizer from the cart.
"What, you wouldn't cuddle me when you're drinking?" Niou shot back. He put his plate off to the side, blinking in surprise as he was just handed the bottle. Okay. "It wasn't like I showed it to him intentionally. It was just up in my loft and I didn't even think to put it away and hide it." Niou sniffed carefully at the bottle before drinking from it. "Besides, it was his fault for asking questions about it. He could have just ignored it. But no, he had to ask about the size. Entirely his fault." He took another sip before giving the bottle back.
"I don't get all touchy-feely when I'm drinking." He had to be pretty much plastered for that. Akutsu took another drink, a longer one this time, before capping the bottle and setting it aside for the moment. "Can we please talk about something other than how my half-brother approximately knows what's in my pants? Like maybe when you're gonna make one for Tachi?"
And that's what made Tachibana choke on his food. He at least had the sense to move away from Niou as he started hacking his lungs out.
Niou was about to come up with another topic, but then… fucking Akutsu Jin. "Oh my god. Why would you bring that up?" He tossed the pillow at Akutsu and followed it to purposely sit on his lap - screw Akutsu and his 'I'm not touchy-feely' bullshit. "I was thinking about it. Maybe." He paused in a moment of thought. "... Unless you meant making one of your size for Kippei… because uh…"
Akutsu had just enough time to toss Tachi a bottle of water before he found his lap full of white-haired obnoxiousness. "What the actual fuck? Why would I suggest that?! If you're drunk already, I'm gonna toss ya into the coldest shower ever." He didn't push Niou off of him…but as payback for that idiotic comment, he just sat there playing chair.
Tachibana grabbed the bottle of water and tried to drink it, but Niou just kept talking and making things worse. He held up a hand to stop the conversation while he managed to get himself under control. "I think I should go."
"No, you're not allowed to leave, Kippei." Niou paused in his attempts at getting comfortable on Akutsu's lap, which involved pondering how to best drape over him. "I wish to spend time with both my boyfriends." He pointedly patted the spot on the mattress right next to Akutsu. "Sit here. We'll change the topic away from buttplugs. Even if yours would be bigger than his."
Akutsu's eyes went wide and he clapped a hand over Niou's mouth. "Fucking hell, Niou, I thought you were tryin to get him to stay, not chase him out." He sighed and looked over at Tachibana. "Look, you know as well as I do there's no controllin our idiot. But I'll behave."
Tachibana sighed. "He's in rare form today." He muttered, taking another sip of water. "But fine. I won't leave. However, there has to be something non-sexual we can talk about…"
Niou could take a hint (... our idiot??). He pushed Akutsu's hand off his mouth and tucked his face into Akutsu's shoulder instead, hugging him around the middle. "Tell Kippei about how you nearly got hit by a giant boulder," he suggested, mumbling as he purposely tried to quieten himself. "And Kippei can tell you about his collection of spoons."
Akutsu put his hand on Niou's back instead, rubbing a little and running up to the back of Niou's neck. "Really, Tachi? A collection of spoons?" Somehow, especially for a chef, it didn't really seem all that surprising. "Like collector's item, special edition spoons?"
Tachibana shook his head, a little mortified at the topic at hand. "Just spoons I like…" He said. "Nothing too special. Nothing expensive…" He sighed. "A boulder sounds much more interesting."
Niou sighed, melting against Akutsu. "I thought about taking up whittling and making him one," he added in helpfully, still making himself behave. "But that seems unfair, since eventually all your favourite things might be dominated by things from me."
Akutsu snuck a little kiss to the top of Niou's head. "So. Sentimental spoons, then." Yeah, that fit. Akutsu definitely thought of Tachibana as the kind of guy who'd hang onto things for sentimental reasons. Such a nice guy. "Yeah, I'd rather not talk about the time I almost got pancaked by a giant fucking rock, thanks. Thank fuck Tez has a lead foot when he needs to."
It was nice, seeing the two of them cozied up and happy, even if Tachibana was third-wheeling it right now. "That's way more exciting than my stupid spoons." He laughed. "Or anything I got up to on my expedition. It was mostly just…awkward."
"Pretty sure both your expeditions were boring since you both spent large chunks of them talking to me." Niou patted the spot on the bed next to Akutsu again, more insistently this time. "Kippei. Sit here. I want to hold hands."
"Means yours musta been pretty boring, too. Weren't you out the same time Tachi was?" Akutsu asked, even as he reached over, grabbed Tachibana by the arm, and pulled him over, not giving the guy a chance to protest. "I'm just glad I don't have nightmares about giant fucking rocks chasin me down."
Tachibana was not totally prepared, so he was pulled over quite unceremoniously. He took a second to register what just happened before just holding Niou's hand. "Yeah, we were both in the first round."
Niou held onto Tachibana's hand, which wasn't the most comfortable position to be in, but it was fine. "And you arrived while we were out. And I snuck into your room like the day after we got back because you threatened to knock me out if I didn't sleep first. And I tried to touch your hair in your sleep and you had gel in it." And just to prove a point, Niou reached up to run the fingers of his free hand through Akutsu's hair, trailing down to his neck.
Akutsu chuckled a little at Tachibana being caught so off-guard. "Settle in, Tachi. I won't bite 'less ya want me to," he teased. He didn't try to stop Niou from running his fingers through his hair, since he'd given him permission to whenever he wanted…but he didn't quite relax into it like usual since it wasn't just the two of them. As much as he liked and trusted Tachibana, he wasn't quite at the 'completely let your guard down' level with him yet. "I don't always wash it out before bed, since I'm just gonna shower when I get up. No real sense washin my hair twice."
Tachibana turned red and looked away. "No, thanks." He chuckled softly. He looked at Akutsu, noticing the tenseness in his body language. "I get the hair washing thing."
Niou shifted his head to press a kiss to the side of Akutsu's neck before he settled again, returning his hand to one-arm hug him around the middle. And god, the two of them were bad at holding a conversation. "Favourite sleeping position. Tell each other about it."
Akutsu arched an eyebrow at Niou's request, because that seemed like a weird thing to try and have a conversation about, but…well. Niou was weird in general. "Side. Sometimes back," he answered with a shrug.
"Yeah, same, I guess." Tachibana shrugged as well. He shifted a little because holding Niou’s hand like this was starting to hurt. And then, like a popcorn kernel under heat, he blurted out. "The spoons really aren't that big a deal, I mean, people collect weird things all the time, and there's nothing girly or anything about it."
Niou blinked at the sudden outburst. … Okay then, Tachibana. He pulled away from Akutsu and moved to try his best to hug Tachibana without moving from his position on Akutsu's lap, which was extremely awkward. "I like your spoon collection, I think it's charming," Niou said, petting his hair. "Even more so since they're tiny spoons."
Tachibana's sudden proclamation made Akutsu state for a minute. Then he dumped Niou into Tachibana's lap since their boyfriend clearly wanted to hug him just then. "...how tiny are we talking?" he asked, suddenly pondering the idea of making a spoon for Tachi to add to his collection. Or something.
Tachibana’s eyes shifted from side to side for a moment, making sure Niou didn't fall. "Why did you have to mention they were tiny…?" He groaned. He could still salvage this. Possibly. "The next expedition, do you think it will be underwater?"
Niou moved to properly sit in Tachibana’s lap to cuddle up to him. “... the tinier the better,” he let slip to Akutsu, unable to bite back the smile. At least he didn’t laugh. And then put himself back into timeout by pressing his face into Tachibana’s shoulder. “Sanada and I have started pondering submarine designs, since we might have to build one. I’m a bit concerned about the water’s salinity though, it’s going to be shit to deal with.”
Akutsu stored the information away to consider later, smiling back at Niou. Tiny spoons… He'd have to possibly learn some new skills to do it, but it could be fun. "Couldn't you do somethin kinda like a reverse helicopter? Like, puttin the propeller on bottom instead of on top, or makin it spin the opposite way to push down instead'a pull up?" Akutsu said aloud, thinking aloud about the submarine idea.
Oh Good. Tachibana thought. His topic switch had worked. Except now he had nothing to say because he absolutely did not know anything about submarines or engineering. Instead, he loosely held onto Niou, not too tight unless he wanted to switch again.
"Not worried about the propulsion, worried about the rusting…" Niou sighed loudly and hugged Tachibana back, ideas whirling around his head. "Just thankfully, I don't think any of us can go, so I don't need to stress about it." He paused. "Ah. Hiroshi will be going."
"Rust. Right. Yeah, I got nothin for that," Akutsu shrugged. There was probably something that could withstand it…but that didn't mean they had access to it here. "Yeah, we all should be safe… Yags is probably too tough to croak. He survived you, after all," he smirked, poking Niou in the side. "Hippy Doc will be goin too, right, Tachi?"
“Chemistry might be able to make a coating for it, with help from desalination…” Tachibana mumbled a thought. He frowned and nodded. “Yeah, Senri is going this time. I mean, he’s a doctor, he’ll be fine…” But Tachibana was still going to worry.
"You are very rude," Niou said, pulling his head away from Tachibana's neck for a second to snip at Akutsu. And then returned to hugging Tachibana. He breathed out slowly and then suddenly grumped. "Why am I connected to so many doctors? This is the worst."
"So long as he's not the one that needs the medical attention," Akutsu remarked, slightly amused by the irony of that potential situation. But of course, for Tachi's sake, he did actually hope that didn't happen. He poked Niou in the side again. "Maybe I should work on some kinda doctor-degree for engineering or somethin."
Tachibana chuckled. “Oh, you can’t do that…then he would be completely surrounded.” He honestly thought Akutsu could achieve it, however. “And then what would he do? Go the completely opposite way and develop a Doctor kink?”
For that, Tachibana deserved a bite to the neck, Niou digging his teeth in maybe a bit harder than normal. "If I had a doctor kink, I'd go try and woo Hiroshi back," he said grumpily. "More money. Same amount of asshole-ness. But in one person, it's more efficient."
Akutsu poked Niou harder, just to mess with him, and maybe a little bit to punish him for the Yags comment. "....Maybe it's a good thing I ain't smart enough, then. I'll just stay my unobservant dumbass self. Prevent that doctor kink from bein a thing."
Tachibana hissed at the bite on his neck. That had actually hurt that time. “I see, we apparently have to become rich so that isn’t a threat, either.” He frowned at Akutsu’s comment. “I think you’re smarter than I am. Definitely more tenacious.”
Niou made an annoyed noise, batting away Akutsu's hand. Stop that. "I think I'm smarter than both of you," he said, still grumpy, though he did press a kiss to Tachibana's neck apologetically. "Smarter than Hiroshi too if he got his stick out of his ass and admitted it, but he won't. And if you keep poking me, Jin, I will move."
Akutsu gave Tachibana a very disbelieving look. "You been hittin your hippy-friend's pot again or somethin, Mr. PhD?" No way was Akutsu smarter than anybody who'd earned a degree. He poked Niou again, this time on the leg. "Oh yeah? Move where?"
“I never have.” Tachibana fussed. “That degree was more hard work than smarts.” He insisted. He tilted his head. Was Niou going to move laps already?
… The thought of Tachibana smoking pot made Niou laugh. "You're very smart too, Kippei," he soothed, patting Tachibana on the head. But nope he was definitely moving. And hopped off Tachibana's lap and the bed entirely. Niou filched the pillow from Akutsu's bed and went to lie down on the spare bed with it. And when he was there, it was safe to push up his shirt a bit to inspect his poked side.
"Isn't there some kinda sayin, though? Bout genius bein 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration?" Akutsu asked, chuckling a bit at Niou scurrying all the way to the other side of the room. He hadn't poked hard enough to bruise, but it was funny the way Niou checked anyway. "And to put in all that work? Definitely tenacious."
Tachibana shook his head. “Come on, now, you’ll give me a big head.” He laughed. He looked at Niou. “Come on now, Haru, he wasn’t poking you that hard.” He smiled.
"He's very stubborn, you won't convince him," Niou added in helpfully. Satisfied that there was no bruising, he stopped, but stayed on the bed. "And too humble and nice." He did at least tug his shirt down properly as he sprawled, to be thoughtful. "Just try and make him compliment himself, it's impossible."
Akutsu just shook his head. “Ain’t nice. Wish people’d quit sayin so.” There were lots of things he’d rather hear about himself; nice just wasn’t one of them. “An there ain’t nothin to compliment,” he shrugged, looking for something he could throw at Niou, since the pillow had been taken…but short of throwing food, there really wasn’t anything good, and he wasn’t about to start a food fight in his own room.
Tachibana thought Niou had been talking about him, but complimenting Akutsu sounded better. “I wonder why that, of all things, makes you feel uncomfortable.” He wondered out loud. “I get it, though. You spend your whole life being told how terrible you are and it sounds like that’s the only truth.”
Niou rolled his eyes. This was… a disgustingly common disagreement between them at this point. And even if he had been calling Tachibana nice, turning it on Akutsu was just as good. "You're definitely nice. I can give you a whole list of examples but you might not want Kippei hearing some of them." Niou grinned at them. "And you're also definitely super dokidoki in love and soft and sweet."
"Y'know, I ain't spent my whole life bein told I'm terrible." At the very least, his mother was constantly telling him he had a kind heart, and all that sappy stuff. But like Niou, she was heavily biased, so Akutsu didn't believe either one of them. "...Maybe you're the one that's been gettin into Hippy Doc's pot stash, Masaharu. Or ya need your head checked."
Tachibana nodded. “Right, of course not.” He knew there were people who thought Akutsu was great. Akutsu himself was the only one that disagreed. “Give Masaharu a break, he loves you.” He teased. Akutsu really did have some low self-esteem, huh? It was weird, seeing something like that from this side.
"I see the therapist once a week," Niou snipped back. For tea, and chatter, not actual therapy, but whatever. He sighed and shifted to roll onto his side to look at the two of them across the room. "He is very mean to me, Kippei. Too shy to say nice things."
Akutsu sighed and rolled his eyes. He said nice things, sometimes. Nice enough, anyway, in those screened conversations. “You sure do like to make shit up. And there’s a big difference between shy and private.”
Tachibana smiled, feeling a bit awkward. “Yes, I’m sure he’s very different when a third wheel isn’t hanging around.” He bowed his head toward Akutsu. “You don’t have to worry, I should probably get going. It looks like Masaharu wants some of your lovey dovey attention, and I wouldn’t dare ask to see that.”
"You're not a third wheel, Kippei," Niou said immediately. And then sighed. "I've been mean to Jin, so if you go, he won't give me 'lovey dovey attention', he'll probably just bully me." Because Akutsu was a dick like that. "Stay. Please."
“He’s right, Tachi, so stay put, or I’ll make you stay put.” And by that, of course, Akutsu meant go over, pick Niou up, and deposit him back into Tachibana’s lap…but leaving it ambiguous was more fun, especially depending on where Tachibana’s imagination decided to run with it.
Tachibana sighed. He was sure Niou was probably wrong, but he did say please. So he turned his attention to Akutsu, raising an eyebrow. “Not enough room in here for a running start.” He said. “I think I could avoid being lifted over your shoulder this time.”
Niou's eyebrows rose at the threat. And as much as he wanted to say that he wanted to see Akutsu lift Tachibana over his shoulder (the idea still made him laugh)... "Are you threatening to pin him to your bed?" he asked. "... I'm not sure you could pull that off."
Akutsu smirked. They’d both gone to interesting places with that, and…technically, Niou was closer to being right, even if he wasn’t quite. But instead of answering, or rising to the challenge, Akutsu just leaned back, hands behind his head. “Guess there’s one way to find out.”
Tachibana looked toward the door. He was closer. He could just escape. “We really don’t have to do that…” he said, scooting himself just slightly closer to the edge of the bed.
So Tachibana was already gonna try to make tracks… Well then. Akutsu bolted out of the bed, and didn't give either of the other two time to react as he scooped Niou up off the extra bed, turned around, took the couple of steps it took to carry him back to Akutsu's own bed, and then deposited Niou squarely in Tachibana's lap. "Consider yourself pinned, Tachi," he grinned, arms smugly crossed over his chest.
Niou yelped as he was rather rudely moved, and he kicked Akutsu. "Don't do that." Even if he did take the chance to push Tachibana backwards onto the bed and lean over him to pin him down properly. "Would've been more interesting if you'd done it yourself, Jin."
Tachibana was not expecting that, but at the same time, he took note of how kind of an action it was. Akutsu had to have known that if Akutsu himself had pinned Tachibana to the bed, Tachibana would have been mortified. “Are you going to let me up, Haru?”
Akutsu just stood there and laughed. "And risk him fightin' against me? Nah. This takes less effort, and is more amusing." For him, at least. "Never underestimate the element of surprise."
Niou shifted to straddle Tachibana and pin him down better. "No I'm not. I'll do Jin's dirty work for him, since he's lazy." The whole situation was a bit ridiculous, really. "Push me off and I'll tickle you mercilessly, Kippei," he threatened, leaning down to press a light kiss to Tachibana's mouth. "I know all your weak points, remember?"
Tachibana turned bright red, really not wanting to look like an idiot, but also realizing he was kind of already doing that. “Haru, please…” He really, really didn’t want to embarrass himself. “I’m sure Akutsu doesn’t want to see this…” he whispered.
Akutsu was way too amused, and he sat down beside them, leaning back on his hands as he looked them over. Poor Tachi's face was practically glowing. "You can at least let the poor guy sit up, Masaharu. Before all the blood in his face makes his head explode."
"If Jin didn't want to see this, he wouldn't have made me sit on you. I'm not moving. Or letting you up because you'll just move me off and try escape again." And Niou was going to solidly ignore that Tachibana could just probably easily kick him off now if he wanted. He kissed Tachibana again, before looking at Akutsu. "... May I kiss you, Jin?"
Tachibana hated that he could hear his pulse in his ears. He could probably easily push Niou off, but his mind was racing. And now Niou was going to just sit on him while kissing Akutsu? He seriously wondered what he did to deserve this.
Akutsu looked from Niou to Tachibana and back to Niou again. He absolutely wanted to kiss Niou, but…. Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure Tachibana could handle it. Not like this, getting a close and personal look. And as much as Akutsu liked to hold onto his asshole side, there were limits. "I think we should leave it up to Tachi."
Oh no, Kippei’s face was definitely ascending to higher planes of red, if that was possible. Niou gave him another fond kiss before he sat up, at least no longer fully pinning Tachibana down to the bed. Maybe the extra air would be good for him. He did sit on Tachibana’s hips though, to stop him from sitting up. “Up to you, Kippei. No spit swapping is necessary though.”
Tachibana adjusted and took a deep breath. "It's fine, you can kiss him. You don't need to ask…"
Akutsu actually felt bad for Tachibana. The guy looked miserable, and it made Akutsu wonder how to make it up to him. Probably the best thing he could do was unpin the guy…so as Akutsu leaned in to kiss Niou, he also wrapped his arms around him and pulled Niou off Tachibana and into his own lap instead. "Take a breather, Tachi…" he said in an unusually gentle tone, reaching over to ruffle Tachibana's hair a little.
Tachibana was a bit shocked at the touch, but closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. To show his appreciation, he didn't run away. "Sorry…I'm okay now." He said, which wasn’t totally convincing because he was still laying down.
There was something undignified at being moved around from lap to lap, but Niou would ponder it a bit later. For now, he followed Akutsu’s hand with his own to pet through Tachibana’s hair. “I was going to say, we should do this more often, until it’s totally normal.” Because it was a bit awkward, all being together in the room like this. “Forced exposure, you know. But… I don’t know if you’ll survive.” Tachibana’s face was still very red. It was cute.
Tachibana let out a soft sigh. “Maybe no pinning and kissing for right now.” He suggested. “But I can handle just hanging out.” He just didn’t want to let Akutsu see how easily he could come undone yet.
"That's fair." Akutsu actually felt a bit bad for his part in flustering Tachibana so much. He'd meant it in fun, but no matter how weirdly adorable Tachibana's red face was, there wasn't a point if not all of them were amused. He gave Niou a little squeeze around the middle. "We can behave. Right, Masaharu?"
Niou ran his hand through Tachibana’s hair again, still soothing him. “I always behave, excuse you,” he said, frowning at Akutsu. “I can even put pants back on, if you really want me to behave for Kippei right now.” He did think that the ‘not right now’ definitely implied that maybe one day in the future… but he’d keep that to himself, in case mentioning it made Tachibana embarrassed and want to leave again.
Now that Tachibana had a moment to breathe, he was calming down. "It's okay, I'm fine now." He chuckled softly. "It's just one of my downsides. I have absolutely no poker face." He shifted so he could see the other two better. "Sorry about that." He took Niou’s hand again. "Can we try this again?"
Akutsu smiled. "Not havin' a poker face ain't a bad thing. Means you're honest." And to show he was okay with trying again, he reached over and put his hand on the one of Niou's that Tachibana was holding.
Niou stared down at their hands and… "... This is really stupid feeling, you two," he said, extracting his hand from the hold awkwardly. "It feels like I'm meant to give some sort of rousing team spirit talk and we all hurrah after like in dumb shows, I don't know."
Tachibana stared at their hands as Niou let go before starting to laugh. "You're right. Go team?" He snorted before sitting up correctly. "Usually, you get drunk before stuff like that, right?"
Akutsu couldn't help it and laughed, too. It was kinda weird, but he didn't really care. "Don't look at me. Ain't never been part of a team. No idea how that shit works."
Niou draped his arms around Akutsu's shoulders to show that he was definitely not participating in this weird team spirit thing. "I mean, you're sort of on a team now, I guess. The 'keep Masaharu alive past 30' team. Fantastic team to be on. You're both captains."
Tachibana smiled. "I can deal with that." He said before a yawn escaped his lips. "Is it already that late…?"
Niou had to smile back. And then glanced around the room. "You were very busy with cooking for the party." He paused and returned to hugging Akutsu, happily burying his face on his neck. "You know, there's a spare bed in this room."
Akutsu nodded. "I don't mind if ya stay over, Tachi." It wasn't like there wasn't room. "It's gotten real late, and you worked hard." Even though he knew Tachibana's room wasn't extremely far away, there wasn't really a point in making him go when there was enough space here.
Tachibana thought about it for a moment. "It's tempting… but I should really make sure Kin-chan gets to sleep. It'll be chaos in the morning otherwise." He stood up, moving to pet Niou’s hair. "Try not to stay up too late, okay?"
He could always try and push more but… Tachibana was very stubborn about some things and Niou was too happy right now to want to poke that and get frustrated. "... I'll lie down in a bed at some point. But I cannot promise I will go to sleep."
Akutsu shrugged. "Suit yourself." As much as he wouldn't have cared if Tachibana had stayed…getting to have Niou to himself for a bit wasn't a bad thing. "Don't let the menace keep ya up too late," he only half-teased, resisting the urge to rub Niou's back for now, because he didn't want to rub it in. "And sleep well."
Tachibana's smile was at least apologetic for having to cut their hangout time short. "Oh, it's already past his bedtime, so he won't." He chuckled. "Rest well, you two." He said before heading out for the night.
"Night Kippei. You can come back if you want, just knock on the door with the secret knock. No promises I'll have clothes on though." Niou grinned into Akutsu's shoulder and hugged him a little tighter.
