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Gundham ignored the sharp twinge of anxiety in his stomach as he took in the scene around him. He reached up to tug at his scarf nervously, annoyed when he remembered it wasn’t there. The number of people he knew in this room was so low he could count it on his fingers, which certainly didn’t help his mounting anxiety. He certainly wasn’t one for alcohol, so even that ‘liquid courage’ wouldn’t be able to help him here. Desperately seeking anyone he recognized through the crowd, he didn’t notice the shock of pink hair (and the man attached to it) about to spill a drink on him.
As he felt the room temperature liquid soak through the fabric of his shirt, he already knew the culprit. Time seemed to slow down as he turned his head to give Kazuichi a death glare, but when he locked eyes with the other man he realized something.
Kazuichi was about to apologize.
“Shit, Gundham,” he began, trying to soak up the moisture with his sleeve. “I’m so sorry!”
Gundham stepped back a bit, still hesitant about people touching him. He grimaced at the sticky feeling of his shoulder and upper arm.
“There is no need to apologize, Kazuichi. It is my fault for being in the way.”
As always, he enunciated his words crisply. He dropped the whole ‘being of evil’ facade a while back, but some affectations were harder to drop than others. Kazuichi, however, didn’t know this.
“I’m not some lowly mortal anymore?” He smirked, placing a hand on his hip.
For some reason, Gundham felt heat rising to his cheeks. He had almost missed the mechanic’s smirk, and seeing those sharp teeth and the little raise of an eyebrow made his stomach flip.
“I abandoned that persona.” He managed to say, flashing what he hoped was a friendly smile.
Their forced conversation would have continued, but the attention of Gundham’s companion was captured by some pretty girl. With that, Gundham slipped away into the kitchen for something to drink. He pushed all thoughts of jealousy from his mind, refusing to acknowledge they were even there. He sighed deeply.
As he was lost in thought, he poured some grape soda into a cup. His mind was racing with anxious thoughts. He hadn’t even seen Sonia yet, and she was the one hosting this party. Before he knew it, his drink was gone. He felt too strange to have more, so he threw away the cup and hoped he could navigate his way to the bathroom. His wet sleeve was now extremely uncomfortable, not only sticking to him with a terrible coldness, but now giving off the distinct scent of vodka.
The bathroom was locked. Gundham was pretty sure he heard the sound of vomiting from inside, thus deciding that the person inside needed the room more than he did. He heard some cheering from the living room and grimaced. All he wanted was to see Sonia and then leave. He slowly made his way to the living room and spotted his blonde friend sitting on the floor, in a circle with some other people. He realized what they were doing too late, as Sonia had noticed him and was shouting for him to come join them.
“Gundham! I’m so glad you could make it!” Sonia clapped her hands together as she said this, her blue eyes twinkling.
As he sat down, he took note of everyone in the circle. When he spotted Kazuichi, his heart skipped a beat. If this was what he thought it would be…
“We’re going to play Seven Minutes in Heaven!” Sonia chirped, snapping Gundham out of his brief trance.
Oh.
Somehow, the thought of more than just a brief kiss with Kazuichi was enough to make his vision swim. Before he knew it, the first three rounds had come and gone, with neither him nor the object of his affections having been chosen. The bottle favored nobody, he realized, as some unlucky girl had to spend seven minutes with Teruteru. Gundham watched as Kazuichi shot her a pity-filled look, hurriedly looking away when the mechanic’s attention shifted back towards the rest of the circle.
When the two came back, the girl immediately excused herself to the bathroom. Teruteru looked a little hurt, but that was to be expected.
“Okay, Kazuichi! It’s your turn!”
Sonia and Gundham watched eagerly as the bottle was spun. Gundham prayed to whatever dark deities would listen that it would land on him, so he could properly let Kazuichi know just how he felt. His heart was beating a million miles per minute as he watched. Nothing in the world mattered except the bottle.
“Looks like it’s you, princess.” Kazuichi said with a smirk.
The bottle had stopped, and it was pointing directly at Sonia. Gundham was absolutely crushed. Sonia rolled her eyes and stood, stumbling over to the closet in the hall. Kazuichi almost ran after her, eager for… whatever would ensue. Gundham figured he might as well leave, as Kazuichi would probably stop playing after this round. He’d been after Sonia since high school…
After what felt like ages, the pair rejoined the circle. They seemed to look the same as before their seven minutes, although their expressions were altered wildly. Sonia looked shocked, and Kazuichi seemed to be embarrassed about something. Gundham wondered what caused them to look that way. Since he was on the complete other side of the circle from Kazuichi, he knew it would be a while until it was his turn to spin.
While standing a little too quickly, he murmured out a quick “I must use the restroom before proceeding.”
Really, he felt like he would be sick. He shut himself in the bathroom and flicked on the light, staring at his reflection critically. His white shirt was now stained a tannish color where the drink had spilled. This was why Gundham hated parties. He pulled the shirt over his head and turned the faucet on. The thin trickle of water slowly warmed, and when it was adequate enough, he wet his hand and began to scrub the sticky part of his shoulder. When all of the residue had been washed away, Gundham put his shirt back on. He splashed some water onto his face, wanting to buy more time away from Kazuichi and Sonia.
Opening the door was a spur-of-the-moment idea. and stepping out of the bathroom even more so. With his head down, he shuffled back towards the circle of people playing that stupid party game. Before he even crossed the threshold to the living room, however, he was being grabbed and pushed into the closet. He had no time to even struggle or complain, instead just resigning himself to this cruel joke. He heard something scrape against the wooden door, presumably something to keep it shut.
“I suppose this is my fate,” Gundham said to nobody in particular.
And then he felt a hand on his cheek, thumb pressed to his lips. Another hand reached up and felt for the scar where his eyebrow should be. Gundham reached up to grab the wrists of his assailant.
“I noticed how you were looking at me, Gundham.”
The familiar, desired voice sent a chill up his spine.
“I do not know how you mean,” he said stiffly, hot embarrassment traveling to his cheeks.
“Don’t lie to me.” Kazuichi said simply, leaning so close to Gundham he could feel the hot breaths on his cheek.
He stepped forward, moving his hands down to his shoulders and shoving Gundham against the wall of the closet.
“I’ve seen you check me out when you thought I wasn’t looking. You get so shy around me, even though around Sonia you’re…”
Kazuichi only stopped talking because Gundham cut him off with a frustrated, messy kiss. As it was dark in the closet, he couldn’t see where his mouth was planted, thusly missing most of Kazuichi’s. He readjusted quickly, letting out a relieved little breath when his paramour threaded eager hands into his hair and reciprocated the kiss. They kissed desperately, like two drowning men fighting for air. Gundham’s hands seemed, of their free will, to gravitate towards Kazuichi’s hips. One stayed firmly grasping the slightly protruding hip bone and the other worked its way under his shirt, his gently-pointed nails digging into the warm flesh. This elicited a soft groan, prompting Gundham to rake his nails down the other man’s back.
Kazuichi pulled away, panting, and removed his hand from Gundham’s hair. The latter whined softly, pulling his companion close to his chest in a tight embrace.
“I know this is unbecoming,” Gundham murmured into Kazuichi’s hair, “But may I hold you for just a moment more?”
“Do you think I would’ve let you kiss me if I didn’t like you, Gundham?”
“I have no reason to believe you think more highly of me than you do Sonia.”
Kazuichi scoffed at that, poking Gundham in the side.
“I’ve been in love with you since high school. I tried getting close to her so that I could see more of you.”
Gundham didn’t expect how soft Kazuichi sounded. He couldn’t figure out how to process what he just heard, as his long-reviled feelings had been reciprocated the whole time. His former love rival had confessed to loving him… His head swam.
“I think you should kiss me again,” Kazuichi murmured after a short silence passed.
Gundham, not knowing what else he could do, obliged. He brought his hand up to Kazuichi’s face and cupped his cheek, much like what was done to him earlier. Their lips met gently this time, allowing Gundham to savor the moment. His lips, always kept soft with chapstick, vastly differed from the rough, chapped lips he so adored. One hand strayed to his companion’s hair, tugging gently at the pink strands. His inexperience was obvious when Kazuichi’s tongue probed at his lips. Gundham squeaked a little noise of hesitation, pulling away from the kiss briefly.
“I’ve never… Done that before.” He breathed, his eloquence fading as wanton desire overcame him.
“It’s alright, we don’t have to.”
Kazuichi kissed Gundham’s cheek, and began working his way down his jaw and to his neck, whereupon a soft moan escaped the man’s lips. His sharp teeth grazed the soft skin before biting down, causing a jolt of some unsanctioned sensation to somewhere Gundham wished he could ignore. He leaned his head back and moaned freely as he felt Kazuichi press soft kisses to the newly tender skin. Kazuichi chastised him with a soft nip to the flesh of his jaw, but that only drove another moan from Gundham. Frustrated with this inability to provide his partner with the same pleasure he felt, he pulled away from Kazuichi and spun him around, pinning him to the wall.
Kazuichi took the opportunity to pull his new lover’s shirt up, wishing with everything in him that there was light to see by. The body below his hands was fit, not extremely muscular, but toned enough that Kazuichi’s mind wandered to thoughts of kissing every inch of skin he could as he moved down towards--
A knock at the door warned the two men of their time together being cut short. Gundham pulled himself away and hurriedly fixed his shirt, then felt for the mechanic’s calloused hand and pulled him into one more kiss.
“We should go out sometime,” Kazuichi mumbled into the kiss, hoping Gundham couldn’t feel the hot blush radiating off of his cheeks.
“I was hoping you would accompany me home tonight.”
This earned a smirk and a nudge of his shoulder. As the door opened, Gundham smiled. Maybe he liked parties after all.