17Title: Taking Care Of
Author: Proverbial Pumpkin
Rating: T for brief language
Disclaimer: I own nothing. No affiliations.
Author's Note: This fic is rapidly becoming more and more fluffy. I see it before my very eyes. But who cares- Tohma's cute, so enjoy!
I woke up fairly smothering Tohma, which seemed like a pretty good way to start the day. He was still on his side turned away from me, and I marveled at how he could have slept in exactly the same position for…. six hours now, according to the clock, which was just visible past Tohma's shoulders. Disentangling myself from his honored person, I was careful not to jostle him awake.
So far, so good; I'd been incredibly lucky. Mika hadn't shown up wondering why there was a strange man in her bed with her husband, and Tohma hadn't woken up during the night wondering the same thing. Something told me my night's sleep wouldn't have gone nearly as perfectly if he had. And now, even as I un-draped myself off him, he didn't budge, just kept breathing his soft sleeping sounds as if he hadn't slept in years.
The plan was to silently steal out and come barging back in, calling for Tohma to hurry the hell up and get dressed. Plan was, Tohma would think he'd forgotten to set his alarm and I'd just slept in, too. But as I hefted myself up on my elbow to sneak a peek over Tohma's shoulder at his face, the plan changed. Deep asleep, the traces of Tohma's guarded, artificial exterior had completely left his face, and what was left wasn't half bad by any means. His expression was content, tranquil even. I mentally patted myself on the back for sabotaging his work day. The sunlight had cut my sleep shorter than I would have liked, but seeing Tohma's benefit from my thoughtfulness made it worth it. I'd watched him tire himself out for weeks on end, and it was rewarding to see him enjoying his rest, if Tohma could even unconsciously enjoy something to common-folk as sleep.
To wake him up now, I decided, would pretty much undermine the whole reason – well, part of the reason – I'd been so keen on staying the night in the first place. I'd leave him be, and stay put myself. Hell, who knows? Maybe he'd be alright with my presence. It was risky thinking, but I was feeling pretty good about myself, having kissed the ruler of the universe just hours before. Just to be safe though, best to quit using Tohma as a human pillow. I rolled over, pulling my side of the cover back up to my chin. Praying no one from NG would call Tohma and bring my good morning to a premature end, I fell asleep to the sound of Tohma's light, steady breaths.
Hours later, I was well asleep again when I felt a movement on the mattress behind me. Tohma was stirring, letting out a soft whimper as his body protested mental consciousness. Immediately I snapped awake, tensing and preparing for an assault of curses. I felt the mattress creak under his shifting weight as he rolled over.
"Wha…." he began, his voice lilting from sleep. It seemed Tohma was slow to rouse.
"Not 'm here… Whe-… from?" I smiled at his incoherent half-thoughts. I was just contemplating turning over to him, when I felt a clumsy hand on the small of my back. "What…?" he drawled, his light voice sleepy and confused.
All of the sudden, the hand shoved forcefully at me and I found myself face-down on the floor. I winced, stunned for a moment, before angrily looking up. From the bed, Tohma was staring blearily down at me.
"Tohma, what the fuck?" I demanded, pulling myself upright.
He blinked at me as I stood. "I should be asking you the same thing," he slurred. "You were… in my bed."
"So? You didn't have to throw me off," I said indignantly, punctuating each word. I fumed, hands on my hips, and glared at him. Like he owed me an explanation, which I realized was backwards.
He looked at me curiously, as if the whole situation was too absurd for him to be angry over just yet. That was fine, but he hadn't just had his best morning in years come to an abrupt and surprisingly violent end. "K-san, why on earth were….oh…" The recollection of our kiss appeared across Tohma's face, and I had to grin as it stopped his scolding short. My smile grew when he abandoned the offensive altogether, shrinking back to the side of the bed and holding a hand up to his head as if he had a hangover.
"Oh, come on, don't be like that," I teased, crawling over to sit beside him. When he didn't answer, I pulled at his hair from the side, trying to get a response out of him. That earned me a glower - or a pout, I wasn't sure. His absurdly young features made it difficult to distinguish between the two when he wasn't firing personnel or threatening to destroy people's lives. Irregardless, I opted for some sort of understanding then and there, as opposed to an argument or a bout of physical violence which I would undoubtedly win. I didn't want to fight with Tohma.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" I said, dropping my hand from his personal bubble. He flinched and shifted away from me as if that bubble were increasing in diameter as I spoke. It bothered me, and I frowned. "Do you really mind?"
Again he didn't answer, just stared at the wall with his eyebrows furrowed as if he weren't even listening. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and waited.
"You can at least answer me, Tohma. Just because you think you own my soul at work, doesn't mean I'm not worth a response here." It was starting to piss me off that whatever he was thinking about was more important than what I was saying. Again, nothing. God damn it, he was acting as if he hadn't kissed me back eight hours before. My movements were harsh as I got back off the bed. I was angry, and I'd go home before putting up with Tohma's crap if he was going to be like this. Maybe. I was half-way to the door before I heard his voice, finally.
"K-san, wait."
There it was. I smirked, turning around. "What?"
He studied me closely, and frowned. "There's no point in you storming out now, because you don't have a car."
My smile faltered somewhat as I realized this was entirely true. And Tohma's authoritative voice was back. Splendid.
"So unless you plan on loitering about my house all day, which I assure you, you will not do, you're relying on me now to get to…" Suddenly he gasped. "Work!"
He spun around, nearly falling over himself to see the clock. We were nearly three hours late already. Of course, I'd known that almost from the minute he so rudely woke me up, so it was entertaining watching Tohma's reaction. He snatched up his clock angrily and stared fiercely at it as if he'd been betrayed. I laughed at his expression as he shoved it roughly back into its place, and only quieted when the glare was transferred to me. "Honestly, K-san, it's not funny. I was supposed to meet with Sakano-san over an hour ago."
That had me laughing even harder. "What are you worried about, Tohma? What do you think he's going to do, fire you?"
He stood up, composedly I was glad to see, although he was still angry with me for finding amusement in the situation. "I'm sure he won't do anything, K-san, that's the problem. In case you haven't noticed, most of my company can't function without me. Bad Luck is a prime example, as you should well know."
I couldn't laugh at that. He raised a legitimate point. "Maybe not, but barring Sakano spinning a hole in the wall in a worried frenzy over your absence, and I should add he's just as likely to do the same thing over your presence, I don't think you'll exactly find the building in ruins just because you overslept."
"It doesn't matter," he said sulkily, storming out of his room with me following. I was in a fairly good mood, considering that Tohma hadn't started blaming me outright yet. I wasn't about to draw attention to myself by interrupting though, and he wasn't through ranting. "Sakano-son won't have his presentation ready, and my paperwork is still just sitting there." He was talking to himself at this point, tromping down the stairs with me at his heels. I rolled my eyes. "All those things I should have done yesterday that I didn't finish because of the concert, and now I'm behind on things that should have been done this morning… that I won't finish because of this."
I grabbed his wrist from behind and pulled him to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. He yelped in surprise and started to protest the human contact, but suddenly I wasn't in the mood to listen. "Tohma."
"W-what?"
He looked so nervous that I nearly let go of him and backed off, for his sake. The arm I had in my grip was covered in a silk sleeve that reached almost past his hands, and his slight frame and young appearance made me feel like I was manhandling a child. But I wanted to be heard. "You're doing it again."
He pulled feebly at the hold I had on his wrist. "Doing what?"
"Obsessing. Didn't we just have this conversation last night?"
Tohma cast his eyes downward, and his shoulders seemed to slump, his half-hearted struggling going completely limp. "Yes."
I let him go, and he rubbed at the spot where I'd held his forearm. I felt a small pang of guilt, and hoped I hadn't hurt him. "Sorry. I just… God, you're just so fucking frustrating."
He looked surprised at that, and surveyed me carefully, still rubbing absently at his arm. "I don't understand, K-san. What do you want?"
It was a fair question, deserving of an answer. "I would've thought that was obvious, after last night."
His eyes widened, but he didn't flinch away when I advanced towards him. "First off, I want you to give it a rest, when it comes to work. You could throw all your money in the sewer, and you'd probably get paid for it. So just… chill the fuck out." He was completely still, and I slid an arm around his waist, much preferring his weight settling complacently against me to all this pushing off beds and storming about. "Secondly," I said, watching his eyes closely for signs of the panic I'd seen the night before, "I told you last night. I want you to let me help you."
The panic wasn't there, and I could tell he was listening. I wanted a response, though. Tohma's head dipped forward slightly, and his platinum bangs covered his eyes. He could have been thinking, sighing, praying for divine patience to deal with the clingy American… I had no idea. As if Seguchi Tohma could be read anyway. I waited a few moments, and finally he nodded his head, just a fraction of an inch.
"Alright."
That one word was all I needed. He looked as if he'd been defeated with the concession, but I remembered our kiss and hoped he'd come around. Sometime last night I'd come to the harrowing realization that I wanted to be with Seguchi Tohma, and if the man needed a small adjustment period, it was an insignificant price I was more than willing to pay. I smiled at him, pulling back and lifting his chin up. "No need to look so miserable about it," I said cheerfully. "What do you have to eat for breakfast?"
He blinked at me. "I don't eat breakfast."
"Oh. Well," I said, wandering into the kitchen, opening random cabinets and drawers. "I guess it's a good thing we slept through it, then. Lunch?"
He didn't follow me, keeping still by the stairs where I'd left him. I poked my head back out at him. "Well?"
He fiddled with the cuff of his sleeve. "I don't eat lunch, either. And I'm not usually home in time for dinner. I just stop somewhere after work."
My jaw nearly dropped. "What? Are you saying you have no food in here?"
Apparently the point wasn't worth his clarification. "I'm going to get dressed," he snorted, shoving the limp material up to his wrist. "If you find any food, you can have it."
No food. Damn it, I was hungry. "Jeez, Tohma. I feel like I'm looking after a fully grown, financially-independent child. You don't sleep, you don't eat… And stop pulling at your goddamn sleeve; it won't make it any shorter."
He glared at me, eyes narrowing to angry slits, and his mouth pressed into a sulking frown. It appeared I'd displeased him with my tone. Twenty-four hours ago the look would have made me tread more lightly or drop it altogether, but as things were, it sort of just made me want to kiss him again. When he turned back up the stairs in a huff, I stopped him.
"What now?" he demanded angrily.
"Nothing," I said. "Just getting this in now, before you put on one of those tri-colored monstrosities and go into presidential mode."
I pulled him towards me, and this time he didn't pull away.
Author's Notes: Well, there it be. Told you I'm getting fluffly. I'll probably send them back to the studio, next chapter. See how sexual tension pans out on the work place. :-P Review!