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Staring at himself in the mirror as he slipped on his suit jacket and tied his tie, Tecchou thought he looked fairly satisfactory.
You look alright, he mentally encouraged himself as he adjusted the cuffs of his shirt and tugged the lapels of his jacket.
It'll be over soon, he told himself, giving one last glance over his figure in the mirror before turning around to meet his partner who was starting to put on his gloves.
"Jouno?" He asked, interrupting the man's muttering that were going along the lines of:
Stupid clothes. Can't even breathe in these stupid things.
Stupid party.
Jouno looked up irritatingly, an eyebrow disappearing into his hairline, "What is it, Tecchou-san?"
"Your gloves." Tecchou pointed out, trying to ignore the little trinkets in his hand that were getting a tad bit sweaty from his grip on them.
Waving his hand that was holding the gloves vaguely in the air to voice his annoyance, “And what of it?"
Tecchou's voice remained calm and unwavering, "You can't wear them."
"Well, gee!" Jouno sarcastically smiled, "Does this mission have something against gloves?"
"They'll hide the rings." Tecchou stated factually, with no emotion, as if Jouno was just another higher-up he was reporting to.
Jouno's annoyed face dropped like a window drawn shut, dropping the innocent act as he said, "Dammit, I was hoping you'd forget about that."
"I'm not stupid." Tecchou indignantly said.
"Never said you were." Jouno quickly retorted, flopping down onto a chair, grunting at the firmness of it. He flushed at his mistake, "Doesn't mean you're not, though." Frowning at his own words, Jouno soon realized he was digging his own grave and hurried to switch the topic.
"Remind me why we have to wear them again?" He sighed, kicking his feet up to swing them onto the vanity; dress shoes surely dirtying the mirror.
Tecchou quietly sighed, even though it was pointless, what with Jouno's super-senses, "You know why we have to wear them."
"Mhm." Jouno hummed in agreement, "Of course I know." He smirked; proud of himself.
"Then, why do you want me to repeat the instructions?" Tecchou exasperatedly asked, his usually high patience running thin.
Turning around in the chair to face Tecchou's direction; closed eyelids meeting green ones, Jouno brought his hands together, his bare fingertips tapping against each other in a slow repetitive pattern as he slyly smiled, canines peeking out, the mirror image of a dog's.
"Because, Tecchou-san!" He started, not providing Tecchou an answer whatsoever, until he continued, "It's fun!" His voice peaked at the last word as if to state emphasis on it.
Tecchou stared at his partner, only mildly surprised by his antics as he slowly responded to Jouno, each word delicately chosen, "You find enjoyment in my having to repeat instructions that you already know?"
"Yup!"
Tecchou groaned, partially because this was Jouno finding enjoyment in putting others in senseless tortue and also because he knew that this was another of Jouno's tactics to run away from the things that he despised.
(Surprisingly the list of things Jouno purely hates is short and not so sweet, but when confronted with them he'll bring out his entire artillery in an attempt to escape).
"Jouno." He stated in a tone that was only reserved for those who were unlucky enough to be on the other side of Tecchou's blade.
And right now? That's where Jouno was located.
Tecchou continued, (metaphorical) blade aimed at Jouno's (seemingly impenetrable) heart, "I know you dislike large crowds."
"I hate them." Jouno muttered.
"Yes, yes." Tecchou acknowledged, "But getting me to talk and waste some time isn't going to make it suddenly disappear. It'll just make us late." He put extra emphasis on the last word, knowing that Jouno lived on a strict schedule that only bended for only a handful of things.
Jouno sighed at his partner's futile attempt to sway his stance on the matter, "I honestly don't care if we're late."
Ah, you may think that's where Tecchou may give up, but he wouldn't just throw in the towel just like that. He was Jouno's partner for a multitude of reasons, and one of them was the ability to successfully pull a counterattack on Jouno.
So, Tecchou came prepared as he moved forward to where Jouno was sitting, dropping his hands to rest on both armrests and effectively trapping Jouno; cutting off his supply of weapons as he entered the field of Jouno's senses and capturing Jouno's full attention, his familiar smell of the rich, earthy tones of eucalyptus and the little dashes of mint pleasantly filled Jouno's sensitive nose and Tecchou's calm, deep voice (that Jouno claimed he despised but never tried to run away from) settled in Jouno's ears and the sound waves left its mark on his skin softly before sinking down to his bones.
He placed a knee in between Jouno's thighs, successfully over the man who was currently trying not to breathe in too much lest he become hypnotized and fall prey to Tecchou.
Taking in a breath and taking a little amusement in the way Jouno's eyebrows furrowed together and in the way his jaw was tightly controlled in an attempt to maintain self-control, Tecchou prepared himself to lay down his strongest card.
"I know you don't care about being late, dear." Tecchou started, testing the waters with the sweetname, and going by the subtle blush that had dusted itself and found home on Jouno's cheeks... the brunette was sure it didn't go off too badly.
And besides, with what roles the two of them were to be taking on after Tecchou managed to get Jouno going, pet names would be something expected. And by the way Jouno reacted, maybe even welcome.
He continued, taking the way Jouno straightened in the chair until his back was rim-rod straight as a sign to hurry up.
So he did, continuing his previous sentence, "But... you wouldn't want to make the commanders mad, would you?"
Jouno froze in his chair.
Tecchou allowed himself an internal roar of triumph as he smiled.
Aimed. Fired. The target has been secured.
"I..." Jouno's frowned, facing the hurdle of not knowing which weapon to use to counterattack this, and he despised this. Despised feeling cornered. Trapped. Whether it be physically, like right now, or verbally. Jouno craved control, like a man desperate for air as the ocean trapped him in its grip, trying to submerge him.
He could feel his mind chipping, little by little, until he had no choice but to give in. And he hated that. Felt the bile and poison began to collect in his throat, as the hot ball of anger grew in his stomach, as he spat out the words, each one leaving a bitter and disgusting after effect in his mouth, “I don’t want to make them mad.” He said, each word clipped and sharpened until there was no emotion in them.
Tecchou's smile slipped off his face and the triumphant fire in his belly was doused by the ice-cold words and the sudden realization that he may have hit a nerve. "Jouno.”
“What.” Jouno said, head tilted to the side, to avoid Tecchou’s measured breathing, molars grinding in his mouth at the defeat, as his fingers became claws gripping onto his biceps, trying to keep the surge of anger at bay.
Mulling over the words he was going to say, Tecchou abruptly leaned back onto his own two feet; giving Jouno some space as he said, “...sorry.”
Jouno tilted his head up to peer at Tecchou, waiting for the man to elaborate.
"I shouldn't have pressured you to that extent. It was wrong of me. I apologize."
The silver-haired man looked up at Tecchou, the small rumbling ball of anger gently getting extinguished with the soft drops of water, as he stared at Tecchou a bit dumbstruck because no one ever apologized to him before.
(Well they did but it was for minor things. And even then, an apology wasn't always warranted. And an apology for things that actually hurt? Even rarer. People assumed that Jouno was some sort of mighty, impenetrable iron wall incapable of feeling and so they didn't bother caring about his feelings anymore.)
But that isn't true. Jouno was still capable of humane things like feelings. The surgeries didn't change that. Being dubbed a king didn't change that.
He fumbled for an answer, before his instincts decided to take pity on him and his mouth opened to say "It's fine." But that tasted a bit funky in his mouth so he added an extra sentence, "Don't do that again or I'll use your sword to cut off your tongue and shove it down your throat."
Ah. Much better.
"Okay." Tecchou responded, still feeling slightly bad over the last couple of minutes.
"Shall we go now?" Jouno asked, heaving himself out of his chair.
Tecchou warily asked, "Now?"
"No. Next year." Jouno deadpanned before becoming serious, "Yes, right now!"
"Alright, alright." Tecchou amended, slipping the rings out of his pocket where he had placed them earlier. "Hand."
Jouno scoffed, placing his cold hand into Tecchou's, this whole affair feeling slightly like a-
"Now we're married." Tecchou said breathlessly.
"Engaged, idiot." Jouno growled, fingers twisting the ring in an attempt to warm up the cold silver on his finger. "And it's just for show! Remember? It's for information! We got to pretend we're more than partners for this mission!"
"For someone so set on denial, you're getting awfully heated up on this." Tecchou said, enraptured by the matching silver rings.
"Shut up." Jouno said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Let's go."
"Anything you say, dear."
"Tecchou-san." Jouno asked as he shoved his hands deeper into his pocket, teeth rattling as the evening air pinched his nose; his ears crying each time a car honked its horn and whenever tires screeched to a stop.
Tecchou turned a stiff neck to his partner, "Yes?"
A brittle smile was on Jouno's face, as his composure was dangerously close to cracking as each word was thrown like a dart to Tecchou, "May I ask why we're standing on the street when the doors to our mission opens in thirty minutes??"
"We're waiting for a taxi."
Jouno stood there dumbstruck at the answer, before he managed to collect his bearings, "And, pray do tell, why on earth do we need a taxi??"
"I thought it would be in our best intentions if we arrived as inconspicuously as possible. Thus, a taxi is necessary." Tecchou confidently stated, feet planted firmly on the sidewalk.
This idiot. Jouno thought.
"You're an absolute idiot!" Jouno shouted, turning onto the brunette, yelling loud enough it captured the attention of other pedestrians, "We're the Hunting Dogs, the strongest unit in the goddamn military police! We don't need a taxi!" Jouno cried out.
Tecchou faced on Jouno's shouts with his own logic, "So you want us to just barge into the party? Break down the doors and announce our presence?"
Dragging a hand down his face, Jouno said, "See, this is why, I'm the strongest Hunting Dog! You're the type of person to butt straight into a problem and the Hunting Dog's speciality is interrogation and capture!! Which is why, I'm the strongest!!" Jouno concluded, mentally slapping himself as he repeated the same sentence of which he started; completely straying away from the original problem as his superiority complex jumped out.
"Okay, Jouno Saigiku, also known as the person who makes his target shit down their pants in sheer fear when you arrive into their personal bubble." Tecchou says wrapping his scarf tighter around his neck, "And who probably has a thing for dramatic entrances." The brunette added the last sentence under his breath (which was pointless because Jouno had super-senses.) And for good measure, Tecchou mumbled, "Drama queen."
Jouno kicked Tecchou's kneecaps, screaming, "I'M NOT A DRAMA QUEEN!"
"Heh." Tecchou smirked. Jouno's hands flew out in the general area of Tecchou's neck making to grab the man but jerkily retracted them, "What were we talking about again?"
"Taxi."
"Okay." Jouno sharply exhaled through his nose. "We're not gonna get a taxi."
"How do we arrive then?" Tecchou asked. Jouno smiled in superiority, "I know how."
"Share with the class, then." Tecchou remarked, rubbing his nose, trying to keep off the frosty night air with the soft scarf.
"We'll use my skill!!"
Huffing, "And what? We'll appear in the middle of the party?"
"No, moron." Jouno hissed, "Listen--”
Rolling his green eyes so far back it was a surprise they didn't just pop out of his skull, "You're not giving me anything to listen to."
"Shut up." Jouno said and continued on with his sentence before he could get interrupted, "I'll use my senses." He gave a light flick to his earring. "To detect a car whose occupants are nearly getting out. We'll appear right in the small time period where they have stepped out but have not shut the door."
Tecchou looked at his partner curiously, "But what about--"
"I'll pick one where the occupants have about the same stature as us. The driver should only see our backs as we exit. Any questions?"
"No." said Tecchou.
"Give me your hand then." Jouno smirked in triumph.
Tecchou slid his palm into Jouno's cold hand, hand brushing the cold band on Jouno's finger.
"Ready?"
No, not ready. Tecchou furiously thought. Jouno's ability wasn't scary perse, it was just like the part where you're at the top of a rollercoaster and you think you're gonna get a break, but the car creaks backward and forward and you have no idea how to feel as your stomach contracts and uncontracts in nervous cramps before it drops all the way down.
That's how Jouno's ability works, but imagine all that happening in the blink of an eye.
It happens before it hits and it's done before your body can properly prepare. Tecchou's eyelids snapped shut, hand nearly recoiling from Jouno in sheer panic at what he knew he was gonna feel.
Jouno focused, ears working to locate the ideal car through the sounds of the city around them. "Found them. Almost pulling forward to the doors."
"Hurry- hurry." whined Tecchou, gritting his teeth as his eyes were screwed shut, half a mind to jump onto some random car and hope it'll whisk him away.
Jouno laughed, his ability activating in a soft red glow around them, "Alright-." The two of them compressed into a bubble, the red practically glowing in the dark as the cold, night air twirled away from them.
"We're here, Tecchou-san." Jouno whispered into his ear, flicking his collar up to hide his red-tipped hair.
Tecchou straightened up-
WHAM! as pain shot down his skull and caused little shapes to dance behind his eyes.
"Sir- are you-?"
Lowering his voice an octave to match with the former occupant, Jouno smoothly answered, one hand on Tecchou's back to guide the man out, and the other hand cushioning Tecchou's head from the skeleton of the car, "He's perfectly alright. Thank you for your concern."
"O-okay.''
Jouno gave a final push on Tecchou's back, pushing them out of the car, their dress shoes landing on the gravel in front of the stairs that led to the party.
Slamming the door shut and cutting off the driver's inquisitive stare, the duo walked up the concrete stairs, hands entwined together.
They pass through security with no problem, Tecchou bringing out their invitations from his inner pocket that Teruko had forged earlier before.
"You know what to do?" whispered Jouno into Tecchou's ear.
Giving an analytical sweep of the room, Tecchou eyes came to rest on how Jouno's eyebrows were furrowed together; a sign that the man was focusing on the sounds of his surroundings, he whispered into Jouno's ear, "Yes."
"Great." replied Jouno, pulling his hand away from Tecchou's and moving to rest it lightly in the crook of Tecchou's elbow, not wanting to let go of the man just yet. "I'll meet up with you later, then?"
"That sounds good." Tecchou said, beginning to notice that the pair was starting to gather some curious stares.
"Try not to have too much fun without me." were Jouno's last words before he pulled away and disappeared into the crowd of people, miraculously not knocking anyone down in his haste to get to his target, who was stationed at the bartop on the other side of the grand room.
Tecchou's green gaze trailed after Jouno's back, watching the top of his head move throughout the crowd; his silver hair becoming smaller and smaller as the crowd covered him and swept Jouno to his next project.
"Sir? Some champagne?" A young, in his early 20s, Tecchou assumed, shyly asked. A glass shouldn't be a problem. thought Tecchou, going with the logic of the drink being able to take away some sort of itch that had begun to form, one he couldn't locate on him physically. And besides, this couldn't knock him out, his tolerance of alcohol was on the same level of the commanders.
No biggie. Tecchou thought, taking a glass.
"UNLESS IT WAS SPIKED, IDIOT!"
Tecchou choked.
The sudden mental image of Jouno reprimanding him shocked him, causing him to splutter and cough on the carbonated bubbles he had inhaled when he had brought the glass to his lips.
That's right. Tecchou thought to himself whilst the poor boy looked with judgmental concern.
When did he, the Suehiro Tecchou, drink stuff from strangers without testing them first?
(He drank them without testing before he was Jouno's partner, but sshhh.)
The point was, if Jouno wasn't there to warn him the drink smelled funny, he'd have to take matters into his own hands--
"Sir?! Why are you spilling your drink-?!"
Literally.
Bringing the liquid closer to his eye, Tecchou closely examined it.
Nothing wrong... But his eyes weren't microscopes so that wouldn't work.
His fingers weren't itching or swelling.
He smelled it and failed to find anything wrong.
"This drink is consumable!" He announced out loud, utterly oblivious to the people who had paused their dancing to stare at the man who had a smashed glass at his feet and champagne dripping from his hands, green eyes staring at a random guest as his brown hair stuck wildly all over the place.
"I'm going to go to the restroom." He announced firmly, moving around in a full circle, neck craned in search-
"Does anyone know where the restroom is?" He asked, the mood quickly dropping, an effect from the anti-climatic question, hands outstretched in front of him, splashing little droplets of the drink everywhere. The boy, returning with cleaning supplies, looked up from where he was cleaning the mess to reply, "The bartender over there can point you to a restroom."
"Thanks."
The boy grunted in response as Tecchou began to walk to the back, the crowd parting when they noticed his mess.
On the way to the restroom, after getting instructions from the elderly barman, with the name of Matthew C. on his tag, Tecchou managed to catch Jouno’s interest, his green eyes taking in the way the soft smile was on Jouno’s face as his head followed the direction of Tecchou, hand holding his glass of alcohol as he swirled it around, before returning to pay attention with his target, an old man that was looking at Jouno in a way that made Tecchou want to run his sword through him.
But he knew better. Jouno could very well defend himself, even though his speciality lay in interrogation and capture. He had weapons on him and could predict the movements of his target, and all in all, could win against an inexperienced man.
So, Tecchou went in to wash his hands, popping the bubbles that appeared, and maybe spent a little longer playing with the bubbles washing his hands.
And, when he went outside to meet the rare sight of Jouno laughing, a task even Tachihara whom Jouno had a soft spot for, had failed to make come true. And if he got jealous, so what?
It doesn’t matter, he thought, gulping his fluke of wine, and wiping the drop that had dripped down until it collided with the silver ring on his finger.
And if he nearly got black-out drunk, so what?
“ Oh dear.” A voice called out, from behind him, appearing next to him on the balcony. When did Tecchou manage to get up here, anyway? “You’re drunk.”
“No ahm not..” slurred Tecchou, hanging over the rail, crumpling his suit.
Jouno hummed disapprovingly, his nose scrunching at the disgusting smell of champagne, wine, and soap lingering on his partner, “I got the papers. Let’s go home.”
“Which one.” asked Tecchou, straightening up, and stumbling when he tried to walk forward, crashing onto Jouno, who merely shoved the man off of him and turned around to walk back into the party.
Tecchou tried to follow, holding onto the rail as he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to get a sense of balance as he heard Jouno’s response of, “What do you mean ‘which one,’ our home, idiot.”
Slowing his step, when he heard the slow, thundering steps of Tecchou’s shoes, a stark contrast, from the soft, confident, sturdy step of sober Tecchou.
“Are you really that drunk?” incredulously asked Jouno, papers folded in his hand menacingly.
Scratching his unruly hair, when he managed to get down the stairs, “Maybe?”
“Can you handle my ability without throwing up all over the floor?” Jouno asked, turning until he was fully facing with his partner, with a frown at his face, ears zoning in to listen to Tecchou to gauge the level of drunkenness.
“Think so.” Tecchou asked, eyelids beginning to droop, as his center of balance tilted again, all to Jouno’s disapproval of drunk colleagues.
Slapping his forehead with the pile of papers, Jouno sighed, thinking about what the hell now? “Okay.” He said, holding the papers in his palm one second, and in the next it disappeared into a red glow. “Let’s make this simple.” He said, putting a gentle finger on Tecchou’s nose, “I transport you into our bed. If you throw up, you’re sleeping on the couch.” He pushed harder, bending the cartilage, “Got it?”
“Got it.” replied Tecchou, eyes crossing as he stared at the finger on his nose.
“Goodnight, Tecchou-san.” softly replied Jouno upon hearing Tecchou’s confirmation; activating his ability, the little red glow enclosing over Tecchou, the red specks showing reflecting in his glimmering, green eyes. “Sleep well.” His smile shyly peering through the red veil as Tecchou was swept away into the comfort and safety of their home.
And, when come morning, if Tecchou found himself changed out his clothes into pajamas, and when he noticed the glass of water and painkillers on the beside and how it brought a smile to his face, and when he pulled the blankets of him and how snuggling in closer to his boyfriend, brought a
full-on grin
to his face, well. No one has to know that.