Archive of Our Own

Supply & Demand

In Mugenjou, Raitei's smiles were uncommon gifts, precious, valued more than gold and chocolate by those few who earned them. Shido and Kadsuki, Makubex and Teshimine, rarely others, all who knew to treasure them.

But the Get Backer Amano Ginji smiles all the time, and most often with the bastard snake, who only smirks back, as if it's such a simple thing. Even Kadsuki is jealous, subdued and privately, that he gets so much for so little.

What they don't understand is how they're just as prized now, even the smallest grin caught by serpent blue eyes and always remembered.

Privacy

In the Infinite Castle, pleasure is something you take where you find it, quick and brutal as any battle. And love you don't even consider. He was so happy, the first time he saw Juubei with Kazuki, not just standing behind him but at his side, his arm around Kazu-chan's slender waist and their lips closed together. It was amazing to him, that they could find such a simple, absolute joy. Beauty is something any denizen of Mugenjou appreciates, if they have not yet lost all their soul.

The real world is different. He had to have it explained to him, the first time he tried to take Ban-chan's hand in public. The mall was bright and loud, and just a few days out of Mugenjou, he could only see danger in the clamoring crowds, but when he reached for reassurance Ban-chan just hissed, "Don't," blue eyes slanted toward him, irritably narrowed. "Not here!"

That night, alone, Ban-chan told him in greater detail what could be done, and couldn't, when there were others to see it. Too many rules to remember all of them, and some he deliberately forgot. Over time he's learned how much of a difference it makes, who the others are, and where they are, and what's been happening. It has yet to completely make sense to him, but he trusts Ban-chan's judgment. Even Kazuki and Juubei are cautious, outside. Some things are still okay, if done properly, as a joke, just horsing around, so people don't get the wrong idea, or the right one.

And once in a while even Ban-chan forgets, so when they're walking down a busy street, occasionally Ban-chan's hand will brush his, clasp his fingers in a moment of beauty too casually quick for anyone blinded by rules and safety to notice.

Wrapped

Ginji must be the only person on the whole damn planet who doesn't know. Paul knows. Paul finds it funny as hell, though he never does more than arch a wry eyebrow in Ban's direction. Natsumi giggles behind her hand, cutely, and blushes when Ban glares at her. Hevn does, too, except she doesn't blush.

Shido and Kadsuki aren't blind, but it's not like they can make anything of it. The monkey trainer is completely trained himself, and the thread spool is knotted in a red thread so tight he couldn't break loose if he wanted.

Even Akabane knows. Sometimes Ban finds that amusing. Late at night it scares the hell out of him.

"Ban-chan, please?" Ginji asks, and Ban agrees.

Because this is Ginji, so it's not like he could ever do otherwise.

Side Effect

One consequence of the Jagan is that he's never certain the dreams he remembers are his own. Such uncertain things, dreams. He's first convinced that the nightmare was an ordinary subconscious reaction to today's near-escape, only to recall, staring up at the car's roof, that it was merely fragments of the gift he inflicted on those hapless thieves last month. Nothing of his own psyche.

Ginji beside him thrashes, silently wrestling the demons of memory that are his own and no one else's, until Ban jealously wakes him, with a warm hand soothes his partner back to a dreamless sleep.

Resting Place

The client pays him quite late, past the hours of all trains. A regrettably long walk to his place, but then, an unexpected gift, he finds their automobile. He picks the lock, opens the door and climbs over the seats carefully, to not disturb their slumber. Neither stirs; their day must have been as long as his. Curling his legs, he settles in the back seat.

Come sunrise there's a shriek; he awakens to see his black figure reflected in enormous brown eyes. Momentarily he envies the partner, having that mirror every morning.

He smiles, stretches. Says, "Good morning, Ginji-kun."