Work Text:
"Knock-knock. Open up, mentalist."
There actually wasn’t a door, just a woven grass curtain over the entrance to Gen's tent. He forced himself to roll out of bed to go move the screen out of the way.
"What?" He was half-asleep and didn't have the energy to give him his typical peppy "Senku-chan~" greeting. Senku held a tray with two crude hand-blown glass bottles filled with a dark brown sludge.
"Got somethin' for ya. You know, since you won't stop asking."
Please. That was one time two years ago.
Gen took a deep breath.
"Senku, I..."
I don't want these. They taste like shit. You also woke me up at goddamn 6am for this.
Senku looked at him inquisitively, clearly expecting Gen to give him some form of gratuitous validation.
He forced a smile.
"...Thank you. Thank you very much."
Senku gave him a shit-eating grin as he shoved the tray into his hands.
"Alright, enjoy. See you later. I know how much you love your cola." Senku practically skipped away, giving him a smug little wave goodbye as he went.
"Yaaaaay," he flatly responded. Gen looked down at what he had just been given and sighed deeply.
------
Man, how many times is this gonna happen? How many goddamn bottles is he gonna have to choke down before Senku stops terrorizing him? It was true that yes, Gen was a soda connoisseur, and that yes, that one time when he was on the brink of death he had used the promise of a single bottle of cola to form an alliance with Senku. It was also true that the very first bottle Senku left for him in the lab that day tasted goddamn amazing, given that it was the first drink he had that wasn’t lukewarm water in 3,700 years. But, uh... it didn't stop there. Senku kept them coming, completely unprompted. The second time Senku gave him a one, it was just okay. Since he wasn't chugging it down like his life depended on it, he noted how far-off from the real thing it tasted. Sure, it smelled like cola, but it was also murky, gritty, and horribly bitter. He had a bit of trouble swallowing it this time, but Senku was sitting right in front of him, watching intently, waiting expectantly for validation for his efforts, so Gen felt obligated to finish it.
The third time, Senku had simply left the bottle next to his bed with a note bearing his name and another little drawing of himself.
Okay, it is kinda cute how he writes his name and draws his face on everything he makes.
Gen, although thankful for the gesture, was absolutely not feeling by now. However, he didn't have the heart to dump it outside, and as such he choked the whole bottle down over the excruciating period of an hour.
And so began their little tradition. Around every fortnight, Senku would hand Gen a couple of glasses of that vile "drink" and Gen would fake a smile, thank him, and force himself to drink it, whether Senku stayed there to watch him or not. He didn't even think about wanting to dump it outside anymore; even the thought of doing so seemed so cruel. Senku was busy as shit and just the thought of him setting aside time to make him what he thought was his favorite drink in the world was kinda touching. Sometimes Gen would find himself grinning like an idiot at the thought of Senku hunched over in his lab, taking precious time out of his work to mix the ingredients together so that he could make something just for him. Just for him. Then he'd screw his eyes shut and shotgun the whole bottle in one swig to get it over with as fast as humanly possible.
------
Gen was in bed, buried in a cocoon of blankets, drifting off to sleep. His bliss was interrupted by the sound of senku banging on the doorframe.
"Just come in. You don't need to knock."
What’s the deal with him being so trigger-happy about waking me up all the time?
Senku sauntered in, carrying that evil tray with two bottles of that evil cola on it. Gen groaned and rolled over to face away from him.
"Hey. I have something for you."
"I know. Thank you Senku-chan, very cool."
Senku placed the tray on the ground next to Gen and began to walk out. Before he left, however, Gen got an idea.
"Wait. can you stay here for a bit?"
"Huh? Oh, sure." Senku sat cross-legged next to him and he rested his chin on his hand.
"What's up? Got something to tell me?" He wiggled his eyebrows obnoxiously.
I'm not confessing my love for you, you dense motherfucker. Not yet, at least.
"Nope. Just thought we could hang." He sat up, still wrapped in his blankets.
"I was thinking..." he picked up one of the bottles, "that we could drink these together this time? I mean, you've never actually tried one of these yourself, right?"
Senku’s snarky expression changed into a more thoughtful one.
"Well... I suppose I haven't, now that you mention it."
He picked up the other bottle, inspecting it like it was some alien object unknown to man. Gen held his bottle up to Senku's, asking for a toast. Senku tapped his to Gen's with a subdued clink.
"Cheers."
"Cheers."
Now, Gen was very used to forcing this cola down, and he had unintentionally trained himself to drink the whole damn thing in one go. The very second after they had toasted, Gen stared Senku straight in the eyes, put the bottle to his lips, and fucking chugged the entire volume in one sitting. He forced himself to swallow, channeling every ounce of his self-control to not gag or grimace.
"Wooooow~ That tastes soooo good~! Senku-chan, you're always so amazing with this kind of stuff~!"
Senku smirked and glanced down at the floor.
"Heh... I know."
He brought his own bottle up to his nose and whiffed it.
"Smells alright."
He took a sip that was, in hindsight, maybe a little too big. Sen watched in satisfaction as Senkus face morphed from smug bastard to fucking mortified. Gen kept the huge smile on his face, giving him an enthusiastic look that made Senku feel like he himself was obligated to swallow and not spit out the repulsive liquid in disgust. He scowled at the awful taste in his mouth but managed to stand his ground and force it down.
He dramatically slammed the bottle onto the ground. "Holy shit! That is fucking awful! And you drink this shit on the regular?”
Gen's eyes widened in agreement.
"I know, right?! it's like fucking poison!"
"Damn, I really thought you enjoyed these! Jesus Christ!"
"Haha, I guess I was subconsciously putting on an attitude that made it look like I had a genuine taste for them."
"And you've seriously been drinking all of these?"
"Yes."
“Every last one?”
“Yes.”
Senku's jaw dropped.
"Why?"
"Because I didn't want to hurt your feelings by throwing it out!"
Senku burst into laughter, much to Gen's surprise.
"Are you serious? You know you could have just told me it was bad and I would have stopped."
"I...!"
Gen took a moment to gather his thoughts.
"Don't you take a lot of time out of your work to make them, though? I-I didn't want it to go to waste." senku giggled. "nah, I'm just haphazardly throwing the ingredients together in a jar and then shaking them around to mix 'em. it takes like, three seconds." "pfft." gen picked up his empty bottle and ran his finger over the label, inspecting the little drawing with "Senku" written in cursive on it. "you really wouldn't be offended if you learned I didn't want these?"
"'Course not! If it tastes so fucking bad, you don't need to act like you enjoy it. Don't feel like you have to lie just to make me feel good about myself or whatever."
Gen sighed.
"God fucking dammit."
They spent a moment not saying anything, just looking down at their bottles in reflection.
"I mean," Gen began, "I really am grateful that, like, you were thinking of me. And remembering to do this so consistently. I never even asked a second time for you to do this. Seriously."
Senku brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck.
"Yeah, I just... thought it would make you feel at home or some stupid shit like that. Sorry for being so pushy about it, haha." He stared at the ground.
Gen leaned forward in shock.
"Whaaaaat! Don't be sorry! and it's not weird at all! And the fact that, uh, you, uh, were doing it all for me, that's kinda gay."
SHIT, my tongue slipped and I said the g-word.
Senku smirked and looked back up.
"Ha. maybe so."
Gen could feel his face turn bright red.
"What?"
"What?"
Gen scooted even closer, a devious grin spreading across his face as he seized the opportunity.
"Did you just say maybe?"
Senku folded his legs up to his chest defensively.
"Yeah, so what? Gay people exist! I was just—"
Before he could keep making excuses, he was interrupted by Gen playfully poking his nose.
"You're so fucking adorable," he murmured.
Senku basically fucking short-circuited.
"Uhh, um, uhh, tha-thanks." His voice was the tiniest Gen had ever heard it, a sharp contrast to the smug tone he usually had on.
"You're welcome." Gen immediately laid back down, re-burying himself in his blankets, mostly in order to cover his reddened face and maybe also stifle the sound of his pounding heart.
"Okaygoodnight," he stammered.
"What? you're just gonna leave me hanging here after pulling that gay shit on me?"
"Yes," replied the muffled voice from the pile.
Senku swiftly pulled the covers off from Gen's face, revealing him lying there curled up, wide-eyed, looking like a deer in the headlights.
"Dork."
They didn’t say anything for a moment; they only gazed at each other, listening to the sound of their breathing in the silent room.
After internally debating himself for a second, he slowly leaned down to Gen’s face, pausing right as he was hovering just above him, silently asking for an okay to go ahead. After Gen gave him a subtle nod, he kissed him gently on the lips while they both tried not to giggle like true idiots into it.
Senku grinned as he pulled away, still holding onto the corner of the blanket from when he initially pulled it off of Gen. He wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand.
"Wow, that really is bitter. Next time ill try to make you something sweeter."
"Ooh~ Can I help you make it?"
"Of course."