[Log] Akutsu & Tachibana

[akutsu]

Who: Akutsu & Tachibana
When: Dec. 2
Where: Akutsu's room
What: They have a talk



Tachibana headed to Akutsu’s room, empty-handed. He decided he needed to stop hiding behind food during these serious discussions. He needed to be a man and just… talk.

That said, he was really nervous. He knocked on the door, chewing on his bottom lip in thought.

Akutsu really had no idea how this conversation was going to go, except that it was going to be incredibly awkward. The whole situation had gone from weird to worse…and it was already something he'd never thought would happen. And now, well…

He opened the door at the knock, and motioned for Tachibana to come in. "So. You gonna tell me what all Masaharu toldja?" he asked, figuring they might as well get to it.

"I already told you." Tachibana said, walking into the room. "He said you think I'm cute sometimes." He frowned and turned to look at Jin. "And that you think I'm easy to talk to."

Akutsu shrugged and went to sit on his bed, kind of just plopping down. "Just wanted to make sure he wasn't puttin words in my mouth, or gettin stuff mixed up somehow." He looked sideways at Tachibana. "That a problem?"

"Besides you being blind…no, I guess…" Tachibana stood there. "...I'm sorry I made you say all that stuff earlier…" He hadn't meant to put Jin on the spot like that.

Akutsu snorted at the blind comment, but he didn't bother arguing it. He knew that was one way they were alike - neither of them saw in themselves what other people saw in them. But the more he dealt with it, the more he understood why Niou got annoyed by it sometimes. "Nah. It's fine. I got myself into it. Shouldn'ta opened my mouth if I wasn't gonna go through with it."

He pat the bed beside him, inviting Tachibana to sit. "You're stressin me out just standin there like that."

Tachibana took a deep breath and sat next to Akutsu. He placed his hands on his knees. "I guess, right now? I'm not sure where the two of us stand. We're obviously friends…but…"

"It's more complicated than friends. We share a boyfriend. You're attracted to me. And…you're definitely not just a friend far as I'm concerned." Akutsu shrugged, trying hard to not fidget and look as awkward as he felt.

"But it's hard to define, right?" Tachibana asked softly. "And I know I don't want to make it any more complicated than it already is, but…I can't shake it."

"Yeah. Whatever it is, it ain't enough to put a label to, yet. But… I don't think there's a way to make anything less complicated." At least, not without doing things that Akutsu, for one, didn't want to do, like putting an end to their friendship and keeping their time with Niou completely, entirely separate.

Tachibana nodded, staring at his own hands. Were they shaking? "Not without ending our friendship." He said. "I don't want that. But this uncertainty is eating away at me."

Akutsu noticed Tachibana staring at his hands, and reached over, putting his hand gently on top of Tachibana's. "You already know I ain't gonna let that happen," he smirked a little, remembering Tachibana's attempt to avoid him. "So the question is, what do you want? What do you need?"

Akutsu touching him drew Tachibana’s gaze back up to Akutsu’s face. What did he want right now? "Do you feel safe with me?" That was the question burning in the back of his mind.

"Yeah, I do," Akutsu answered easily, without missing a beat. "Dunno when it started, but it ain't new." He didn't need to ask if Tachi thought he was easy to talk to. He'd already read the answer in that knot of a comment thread on Niou's journal.

"I feel safe with you, too." Tachibana admitted. "I mean, you did let me cuddle you while I watched a video feed of baby fish…" He chuckled softly. "I don't want to lose that feeling."

Part of Akutsu wanted to brush it off, say he'd have done that for anyone…but that was a lie and they both knew it. Instead, he looked at Tachibana, carefully watching his expression. "What makes you think you will?"

"I don't think I will…because I'm not going to run." Tachibana said. "I just want you to know I won't run from you again." Even if it terrified him. Even if Akutsu spurned him.

Akutsu squeezed Tachibana's hands in his. "Good. Because I enjoyed chasin ya down last time. I won't hesitate to do it again," he chuckled, gently bumping shoulders with Tachibana to tease him a little. "But it's a lot nicer when I don't have to."

Tachibana smiled and leaned into Akutsu’s shoulder. "I'm not going to rush us to an answer, either." He knew they had plenty of time to figure this all out. "So…it's okay if things start to progress? I can let myself want that?"

Akutsu nodded. "Yeah." Not rushing anything was good. This was a first for him, and as far as he knew, for Tachibana, too. And it was sure as hell something he'd never expected, to love one person as much as he loved Niou, but to find himself feeling the way he did about someone else. "...we should probably keep Masaharu informed, though. You know how anxious he gets if he's not kept in the loop on things…" Of course, Niou got anxious even if he was told everything, too……. Lesser of two evils?

Tachibana nodded. "Yeah, I'll contact him once we're done talking." He promised. He knew how anxious their boyfriend was.

There was a little silence, while Akutsu tried to imagine how Niou would take it…and every possibility ended one way. "He's gonna freak out…" He'd have to brace himself for the chaos. But there was one thing… "...I was flirting with you, yanno. Or at least tryin to. On the journals," he admitted.

Tachibana chuckled. "Yes, but hopefully he can listen to reason." Tachibana licked his bottom lip, realizing he had nicked it with his teeth earlier. "I've been flirting for a while, honestly."

Unlike with Niou, Akutsu had actually suspected as much, at least some of the time. "...me too. Like when I flicked flour at you during the pancake lessons…." Even if the first attempt at pancakes had come out way too burnt to be edible, it had actually been a lot of fun, goofing around with Tachibana like that.

Tachibana chuckled. "Next time wait until it's batter." He smirked. "Easier to lick off." He laughed. "...I'm glad I wasn't misreading things."

Akutsu arched an eyebrow and laughed. He'd been about to make a comment about licking it off, but Tachibana beat him to it. "Mind in the gutter already, Kips. Shame on you," he teased. "But yeah…I'm glad I wasn't as much of an unobservant dumbass this time."

Tachibana chuckled. "Even I can have dirty thoughts sometimes." He really liked joking with Akutsu like this. "Can't help it. I guess I like pale guys with white hair?"

"You even said it without turnin 64 shades of red. I'm impressed," Akutsu replied with a smirk. Any time he'd seen Tachi get close to saying things like that, he'd always blushed as red as a tomato. "Well. My white is fake, so. I dunno if that counts or not."

Tachibana willed the warmness on his face to not be visible. "It suits you, though…and my blonde is fake, too." He ran his fingers through his own hair. "But it suits me, right?"

"Yeah, it does." Watching Tachibana playing with his hair made Akutsu want to reach over and run his fingers through it too, just for the reaction he knew he'd get…but he also knew he probably should behave. "Though I think you'd probably look good with almost any color."

"Even blue?" Tachibana asked, laughing. He smiled and put his hand on Akutsu's. He could almost see Akutsu itching to do something. "I might still blush and stuff around you, but don't hold back if you think I'll react negatively. I won't."

"Even blue. Though some shades would be better than others," Akutsu nodded, looking at Tachibana's hand on his. He turned his own hand over, so they were properly holding hands. "You say that like you blushin is a bad thing." Tachibana really was cute when he blushed, so it actually made Akutsu want to see just how red he could make the guy turn. But at the same time, he wasn't going to rush things. All three of them would need time to get used to all this.

Tachibana was blushing a little at the compliment as he gave Akutsu’s hand a squeeze. “It’s not the manliest thing.” He admitted. “And I’ll admit I have insecurities about my masculinity.” It was the first time he had ever phrased it that way. “It’s getting better. You and Haru are helping me with that.”

Akutsu shook his head. "Better your kind of masculinity than that toxic 'sensitive men are weak' bullshit. There is not a damn thing wrong with your masculinity, and anyone who says otherwise deserves a punch in the face." Even though Akutsu knew he wasn't always the best about showing his own softer side (that he didn't even like admitting he had in the first place), he'd never discourage anyone else from showing theirs.

Tachibana smiled softly. “Thanks Jin. Hearing that from you means a lot.” He knew Akutsu was honest when it came to other people (not so much himself). “I do think those insecurities were the big reason I was so nervous about being attracted to you. Haru is smaller than I am, but you’re not… But I see now that was stupid to worry about.”

Akutsu tipped his head, looking at Tachibana curiously. "It's never stupid. But you don't gotta worry. Whenever we need to, we'll talk stuff out, like this. No matter what it's about, no matter how stupid we might think it is." He squeezed Tachibana's hand. "Wherever all this goes, we go together."

That was enough to take Tachibana’s breath away for a moment. He shifted so he could press his forehead against Akutsu's shoulder, never letting go of his hand. "I didn't realize I needed to hear you say that until you were already saying it." He said softly. The unease he had been having was slowly loosening its grip on him. "The same goes for you, okay? Anything at all, I'll listen."

Akutsu gave a small, soft laugh as he swapped out which hand of his Tachibana was holding, so he could wrap his now-free arm around Tachibana's shoulders. "I'm not the easiest to get to talk, I'll admit. But especially if it's important for you and me, or the three of us…I promise I'll try to not put up too much a fight about it."

Tachibana nodded. "I think it's important that we talk about the significant things. That we admit when something is bothering us so it doesn't build up." He really liked being held like this, and was glad he didn't have to be mortified about it. "And it's important to know boundaries and what lines not to cross."

"Yeah. Stuff like that's important. So we'll work it out as we go. In the meantime, try not to let yourself stress about it." Holding Tachibana like this was very different from holding Niou…but it wasn't a bad thing. Just different. Might take a little getting used to. "And if you can't not stress, just ask. I ain't gonna lie to ya."

Tachibana gave Akutsu’s hand another squeeze. "Okay. I'll be sure to remember that." He knew he was at least important to Akutsu. "Thanks, Jin. Thank you." He relaxed and just stayed like that for a while.

Akutsu was glad they'd done this - cleared the air and any misunderstandings. They were on the same page now, walking the same path. "Anytime, Kips," he smiled, giving Tachibana a little squeeze around the shoulders. "Any time at all."