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“Ok dear you realise you gotta go in the store in order to get the dress right,” Hide chides gently. The three of them stand a couple of stores down from the store with the now infamous red dress. Haise having frozen there as they approached.
Haise grabs the hem of his shirt, fiddling with it nervously before he speaks quietly, “I can’t do it, I can’t go try it on in there. They’re all gonna stare.”
Kaneki looks from Haise to Hide in alarm, unsure how to comfort Haise. Hide says, “How ‘bout this, we go in, pick out the dress, well you do that part I don’t know what dress size you wear. Or how dress sizes work at all to be honest,” he chuckles, “and then I’ll take it to the front and I’ll buy it and you can try it on at home!”
“Y-you’ll do that?” Haise asks nervously.
“Yeah!” Hide exclaims, “That way I distract some of the looks from you. Oh! I can even say I’m getting it as a gift for my sister or something.”
Kaneki’s brow furrows, “You don’t have a sister.”
“I realise that babe, I think a little white lie is okay here.” Hide pauses and continues hesitantly, “I mean… I could say I’m getting it for my girlfriend?” Haise’s eyes widen and Hide quickly adds, “O-only if it’s okay with you Haise, only it feels less like a lie…”
Red has spread fully across Haise’s cheeks by the time Hide is finished talking and Haise reaches out to take Hide’s hands in his. Haise nods softly and tearily, unable to speak for the moment. All three of them are silent for a few seconds longer, taken by emotion.
Hide clears his throat, “Good, right,” he nods decisively, “I’ll do that then. Alright, let’s do this,” he says, giving their still joined hands a firm shake.
Haise lets go so that Hide can turn and all three can head towards the store.
Hide pauses just outside, “Wait, show me this dress so I help you look,” Haise points to the dress on the mannequin. “Oooh Hai~se that is a very cute dress!”
“Really? You think?” Haise asks hesitantly.
“Definitely!” Hide exudes.
“This implies that you know anything about fashion Hide,” Kaneki deadpans.
“Ok hush you, I don’t need to know fashion to know that’s a cute dress. C’mon you two, let's go on a hunt.” Hide says as he strides into the store confidently, followed by his two boyfriends with significantly more trepidation.
The three of them wander around the store for a bit, searching out any bits of red to find the dress. After not long Kaneki makes a small noise of triumph. Hide and Haise gather around the rack with him.
Haise bites his lip slightly as he sorts through sizes, “This should be good,” he says. Pulling out one of the dresses, “It might not fit perfectly but I’m pretty sure this is about right.”
“Well we can always leave the tag on and return it if it doesn’t fit?” Kaneki says.
“Oh yeah for sure,” Hide agrees, “here, let me.” Hide gently takes the hanger from Haise’s hands and starts walking towards the checkout counter before Haise can begin to second guess everything. Kaneki and Haise trail after him again.
Hide places the dress down on the counter with a confident, ‘Hello!’ and a bright smile. The clerk smiles back warmly. “Question for you,” Hide begins as the clerk is ringing the dress through, “I’m getting this for my girlfriend and I am not entirely confident that I got the right size could I come exchange it if I messed up?”
“Oh yes,” she responds, “as long as the tag is still on it and it’s not torn or stained or anything we have a 30-day return or refund policy.”
“Perfect. Thank you!” Hide pays as the clerk folds the dress and puts it in a bag for him, along with the receipt.
All three exit the store and once out of site Hide presents the bag to a slightly trembling Haise who takes it with reverence and not a small amount of anxiety.
“Let’s head home,” Kaneki says, “today’s already been a lot and I could use some quiet.”
---
The dress doesn’t immediately go on when they get home. It gets carefully hung up in the closet, where Haise occasionally runs his hands along the material. It’s as he’s doing this one afternoon that Kaneki finds him and tries to get his attention, “Haise? Uh, Haise?”
“Sorry,” Haise jumps, stepping away from the closet, “sorry what did you say?” he asks.
“It uh,” Kaneki pauses nervously, “it’s about the dress actually. No pressure obviously. But we all have Friday night off, Hide and I were wondering if you wanted to have a date night in? You could show us the dress i-if you wanted, and we will make dinner.”
Haise stares at Kaneki for a moment too long. “Obviously,” Kaneki hurries to clarify, “if you don’t want that we c-can not-“
“No- no, that sounds really nice actually, we haven’t had a date night in a long time.” Haise smiles softly at Kaneki, who returns the smile gently.
“I’m just,” Haise’s face falls, “worried that it will really not be a dress day and then it’ll be ruined.”
“O-oh no, Hide and I thought of that actually, well, we thought about what if you weren’t comfortable yet at least. And we figured that if not then we could still do the date and dinner part. The dress is just… a bonus.” Kaneki says slightly unsure.
“You two even thought of that?” Haise asks with awe.
“Yeah, I mean, we don't really know what we're doing,” Kaneki says honestly, “but we want to make you as comfortable as possible.”
Haise looks Kaneki gratefully, “Thank you Kaneki, dinner on Friday sounds really lovely.”
---
Come Friday Hide and Kaneki are making dinner in the kitchen. Kaneki, running interference on Hide’s sometimes… creative cooking techniques, while also trying to hide that that is what he is doing. Both of them are nervous, but putting it into their respective cooking efforts. Haise is hidden away in the bedroom, getting dressed, potentially in the dress, potentially not, he hadn’t said before he’d disappeared.
“Hide no, beets do not go into pasta sauce!” Kaneki grabs Hide’s hands before he can drop them in.
“But what if they did though, have you ever tried beets in pasta sauce?” Hide slowly moves his hands closer to the pot.
Kaneki narrows his eyes, “I have not, and I do not intend to try tonight.”
“You’re surprisingly muscley for a little book nerd,” Hide interrupts, looking over at Kaneki approvingly.
Kaneki blushes, “Don't try and flirt those beets into there.”
“Is it working?”
They’re interrupted by laughter from behind them. Kaneki releases Hide’s hands and they turn excitedly to see Haise standing in the hallway which leads from the bedrooms and bathroom. He’s nervously fiddling with the tie of the bathrobe he has on, over bare legs Hide and Kaneki notice.
“Ok, ready?” Haise asks quietly.
“Wait!” Hide says quickly, “Lemme put down these beets,” Kaneki opens his mouth, “not in the sauce don’t worry.” As Hide is putting them down Kaneki hurries to turn the sauce down to a simmer to make sure it won’t burn.
“Ready.” Kaneki says as they both turn back to Haise eagerly.
Haise takes a long, long breath in. Trying not to look like he wants to run back into the bedroom as much as he does. Then he unties the tie of the bathrobe and quickly draws it back from his shoulders, letting the material fall to the floor at his feet.
Haise is incredibly nervous but he’s ready now, he wants this. He looks up-
“Fuck,” Kaneki utters softly, his eyes wide, a blush rapidly spreading across his cheeks. Haise bites his lip, which makes a huff of air, seemingly unbidden slip out of Kaneki.
Hide tears his eyes away from Haise to look briefly at Kaneki and the way his gaze is fixated on Haise, before looking back to Haise again.
Hide speaks, “Dear, you look so pretty, so, so pretty.”
“Yeah?” Haise asks eagerly, looking down nervously, a soft smile breaking out on his face.
“Definitely. Look at you!” Hide enthuses, “How could you not? I mean, come on. The cutest to ever wear that dress certainly.”
Haise clasps his hands behind his back gently, “Thank you Hide, you’re very sweet.” He pauses, “Kaneki? You uh, you’re quiet, and also you’re kinda staring at me.”
“So-sorry,” Kaneki stutters out abruptly, shaking his head slightly, and snapping his eyes away. “Sorry I just, you look really good and I got… distracted.”
Hide raises an eyebrow and looks over at Kaneki with a slight smirk on his face, “‘Distracted’” he teases.
“Yes, distracted,” Kaneki huffs, “Sh- Haise looks gorgeous! How could I not be distracted?”
A grin breaks out onto Haise’s face, genuine and soft and full of joy.
Hide pauses for a moment, looking at Kaneki with his face carefully calm, before his smirk returns, “So this is bisexual Kaneki in full force, I like it.”
“Shut up, Hide,” Kaneki grouses.
“No.” Haise says, “I like it too. Thank you Kaneki, I’m glad you like the dress. It makes me feel pretty good to have it on actually, a little weird not gonna lie, but good, really good. And it makes me really happy that you both like it too,” he shrugs, “that you like me in it.”
“We do!” Hide assures, “We really do.”
Kaneki nods, “We definitely do,” his fading blush reviving somewhat.
Hide claps his hands together and says, “Alright, wanna eat your entirely beet free pasta now?”
Haise laughs and nods happily, warmth spreading through his chest as he watches Kaneki and Hide continue their earlier bickering as they finish making dinner. Haise may not feel entirely prepared for everything which is to come, and he is certainly more than a little bit scared. But he has Kaneki and Hide, and with them by his side he knows that everything will be okay.