2A/N: Wow did this progress differently than anticipated.
Key: Thoughts...
Disclaimer: I don't own Loveless, or Sara Bareilles's song "Come round soon"
I
I
I
*"I miss you like you were mine"
I
I
Thirty eight year old Ritsuka scratched his unkempt charcoal beard, which had grown to measure three inches, give or take.
*One too many drinks tonight...
As the thought crossed his mind, he put up a finger to indicate to the bar keep he wanted another pint.
Glancing around the bar he always searched faces for some trace of familiarity. He never did see that one bit of crystal clarity lost so long ago.
*I miss you like you were mine...
"Heh" he chuckled low, then coughed.
"This jazz crap would make anyone sick" a man commented, sitting beside him. Opening his eyes after his throat was clear of phlegm, he turned to the voice he recognized, an echo from his past.
Squeezing dead purple eyes closed slightly he focused on the man. Faded blonde hair, clean shaven face, multiple piercings, wide framed glasses...
"Hmm" he hummed, trying to place the memory.
"You don't look the same as you used to Ritsuka, and no doubt neither do I. Sorry, I'm Kaido Kio" the forty seven year old said.
Ah that's it, Soubi's friend...
"Sou-"
"Soubi's friend, yeah" he confirmed, each feeling the weight of the name. He waved to the bartender.
After tossing back four shots, Kio turned to the mute man beside him. "Lost your ears after all I see", he pointed pointed with his right pinky, a beer mug in hand. Black hair reached his shoulders in the same styles he had his entire life, but indeed cat ears no longer were perched above human ones.
"Pointless not to" was his short response.
Kio only nodded. "Sir I'll take what he's having, and another one for him, on me".
After three more pints, Kio asked "So, what're you doing these days?"
"Systems analyst" Ritsuka replied, staring at the drained mug in hand.
"Sounds boring. I design advertisements for toy companies"
"And my job sounds boring?"
"Got a family?"
"Not since my parents died"
"I meant... Hm neither do I, well- nah never mind". They looked at the wet counter.
Both had the same question, but were unsure whether or not to ask it, or even if they wanted to.
Ritsuka swallowed the last half of the mug before him. Not looking up he questioned, "You seen him?"
It was obvious who "him" referred to. "Not in twenty six years, you?"
"Same"
"I don't care for the word, but when it's so deep I guess it can't be ignored", here Kio put down his mug none too gently.
*I miss you like you were mine...
"I hate your brother", the older male admitted.
Instead of punching him due to alcohol as expected, Ritsuka simply nodded.
Passing his credit card to the bartender, and swiping sandy strands with a glimmer of platinum behind his ear Kio asked "You wanna get out of here?"
*One too many drinks tonight...
Peering at the final drop of "forget", the younger man nodded, fishing the thin wallet from his jeans.
"Don't worry about it, I paid for yours too" Kio said standing to remove his bright indigojacket from the stool.
Ritsuka did the same, carelessly throwing on a black coat. The holes were barely visible, stitched unevenly with thread of a similar shade.
Kio's car didn't smell like his own once auburn-painted, rusty truck. The seats and floor weren't littered with anything, but several candy wrappers, rather than crushed beer cans, and warn shirts to hide them.
Ritsuka seemed more accustomed to this than he- bringing someone home from a bar. At least it wasn't a stranger like those he danced with in the clubs he more often frequented.
He didn't mind that Kio's breath smelled like alcohol, he could hardly tell whose mouth the stench emitted from after all.
He didn't mind that Ritsuka gruffly pulled his shirt off.
He didn't care that Kio followed his lead, removing his jeans without unbuckling the belt or even unzipping them.
He didn't care that Ritsuka didn't ask if he wanted to use a condom after squeezing lubricant onto his hands. Instead, the bearded man threw him onto his bed, climbed on top of his body, weighing several pounds more than his own measure of 140, and shoved his ready cock inside.
Moving in rhythm with heavy thrusts, the blonde grabbed rocking hips, pushing him away without letting go, then rolled onto his back.
He hadn't meant to stop, but after reading the "tattoo" that covered Ritsuka's chest, paused to mention "'Loveless', kind of a messed up tattoo".
"More of a fucked up way of life" he responded, pounding deeper into the other to get him to shut up.
After fucking, they didn't sleep together, as Kio typically did with his sexual partners. Instead they went the route of Ritsuka's preference- parting with few words, and no exchange of phone numbers.
Barely looking at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, Ritsuka called a cab after pissing.
Handing the driver crumbled bills, he exited the vehicle, and walked to his truck. 4am wasn't a time many people were typically around, so he didn't worry about leaving it in the bar parking lot.
Unfastening the chain of keys from a belt loop, he banged the door twice, then unlocked it.
Sitting in the driver's seat, feeling the remnants of a hangover, Aoyagi Ritsuka could care less what happened to him these days.
I
I
I
End
I
I
KEY: 1st 2 lines of lyrics/thoughts are Ritsuka. 2nd 2 lines of lyrics/thoughts are Kio.