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The first thing that should have tipped Rui off was when Emu brought the blue tin to rehearsal in the first place.
Suffice to say, it was well-known by all that Emu should simply stay away from the kitchen at all times. From burnt croquettes to crispy pancakes, she was honestly terrible in every culinary regard.
But he, along with Tsukasa, didn’t know any better, so when they were both offered a cookie from within the tin, they accepted it without giving it a second thought.
(Nene declined; apparently it was too minty for her.)
However, there was the matter of consumption. Rui took his time with his first cookie, chewing it slowly, savouring the mint and chocolate taste. But when he looked to his left, Tsukasa had already eaten through the entire tin.
Despite eating somewhere around ten cookies, Tsukasa just let out a content sigh. “Aah~ That was so good.”
“If you even tasted them...” Nene murmured, which received an angry yell from Tsukasa.
Rui raised a finger to his chin. “You did devour them. Are you sure you won’t get sick?”
Tsukasa raised his hands in front of him as he shook his head. “No way! I feel perfectly fine!”
Emu asked innocently, “You sure?”
Tsukasa affirmed, “Yep! I feel...” He paused before taking a breath and beginning again, “I...”
“I’m not staying for this,” Nene said as she frowned. “He’s gonna be sick.”
Emu added, ”He shouldn’t be feeling nauseous!”
Tsukasa was now laying on his back, rolling side to side. He was panting heavily, face flushed. “Hot... So hot...” He paused for a moment as he shifted to all fours and turned to Rui. He began crawling towards him. “Cool me down, Rui~. Please, I feel so hot...”
With his flushed face and half-lidded eyes, Rui’s body froze in place as his eyes couldn’t help but look him up and down.
He muttered a curse before he began thinking of anything that would take his mind off of the sight in front of him.
Grandmothers, cats, Tsukasa’s dad in a wetsuit...
It didn’t help, so there he stood, straight as a board. And although he’d never admit it, slightly aroused.
Tsukasa then took it upon himself to wrap his body around Rui’s body like a trunk, shouting slurred speech. “Lemme... Lemme climb you, you huge tree!” And when he began having trouble mounting the man, he began sniffling. “Too... too tall...”
And that’s when he began crying into Rui’s blazer, soaking a part of the cloth. “You’re...” hic “A stupid TREE!” He then began to go into full-fledged sobs as everyone stared at him with a variety of concerned expressions.
Nene muttered, “I have no clue what I just witnessed, but I hope I never have to ever again.” She paused for a moment before turning to Emu. “You did something to them?”
Tsukasa was rubbing his forehead up and down Rui’s chest when Emu batted her eyes. “To what...?”
“The cookies, obviously,” Nene said.
”I did nothing out of the ordinary!” Emu smiled, innocently enough.
”That seems unlikely,” Rui said as he was rubbing Tsukasa’s back in a comforting emotion, helping him through his sobs. He was managing to keep his cool for the most part. “There was something in the cookies, I presume.”
Emu hummed as she narrowed her eyes in thought. “Hmm...” she murmured. “I guess... it could’ve been the vanilla..?”
”The vanilla?”
She shrugged. “There was none in the cupboard so I had to search around for some!” When the two childhood friends only stared at her, she continued. “I found some in the big wooden cabinet where my family keeps our fancy bottles!”
And that’s when it became more clear to Rui, clearer as to what had happened. “What did the bottle you use say, Emu-kun?”
And that’s when she finally said, “It said vanilla wi....” She paused for a moment before her face widened in realization. “I put... wine in them? IN THE COOKIES?!”
And when Rui met her with only a meek nod, she rushed over to Tsukasa’s side. “I, am, SO, sorry Tsukasa-kun!” She waved her hands around, almost as if she was trying to find a way to help by only her touch. She settled for a hand on his back. “Are you feeling okay?”
Nene smugly mumbled a “You spiked Tsukasa~,“ to which Emu gave a loud shout.
Rui was still rubbing his hand on Tsukasa’s back. The touch, along with the heat radiating from the man on top of him, felt nice on his skin.
“R-Rui...” He mumbled, almost starting to sound drowsy. Tsukasa groaned, “I wanna touch you...” And when Rui’s body shot up, he mumbled, “Closer...”
”This is what someone would call a... ‘touchy’ drunk, right?” Emu asked.
”Emu-kun, this isn’t an experiment,” Rui seethed through his teeth, feeling a tender feeling sprawl below. She mouthed a ‘sorry’ to him.
Nene chose to lend her aid. “We could probably run Tsukasa’s head under some cold water from a tap, maybe? That’s what they do in the movies whenever someone is drunk.”
Emu nodded eagerly. She turned around, ready to lead the charge to find said water, when she suddenly let out a high-pitched squeal. “Oh no... oh no no no...!”
To this, Rui muttered, “What is it?”
She continued staring forward in despair, pointing in front of her. Nene took initiative and walked over to take a peek. That’s when even she took a gulp of anxiety. “Oh no...”
“What is it?” Rui repeated as Tsukasa decided that Rui’s thighs would make for an excellent headrest. The heat between his thighs was beginning to grow if he liked it or not. He himself muttered to himself as well, “Oh no...”
”It’s...” Emu paused for a moment as if she was telling a spooky story, “the manager.”
“The mainajhur!” Tsukasa shouted at the top of his lungs. “Ugh... He’s so MEAN! And he looks wrinkly too!” He smiled fondly, “Rui is so much nicer and cuter than him...” then sinisterly, “that stupid old man...”
Lest Rui’s heart be still.
”He’s doing his weekly visit,” Nene said calmly. “And... he’s nearing closer as we speak.”
Emu let out a shriek before she quickly rushed Rui up, who scooped up and carried Tsukasa in his arms like a bride. When Rui stared at her for some sort of orders, she yelled as she ran, “Follow me! Oh, and Nene-chan!” And when the girl turned to her, she said, “STALL FOR US!”
Without waiting for a reply, Nene lead the pair to a metal door near the stage. She quickly pushed it open and silently gestured for Rui to enter with a nudge of her arms.
Was this a supply closet?
But not knowing any better, he walked in with Tsukasa in his arms. It was small: too small to the point where he had to gently help the drunken man to his two feet. Due to the lack of space, they were nearly pressed against each other.
Though, every time they did brush against each other, Rui felt the beating in his chest quicken.
Rui turned to Emu, who was still outside the closet, and asked, “Emu-kun, what now?”
And instead of dignifying the man with a response, she closed the door on him, shrouding him in complete darkness, bar the dim hanging light above him.
He then heard the door lock.
“We can’t let the manager see Tsukasa-kun like this!” Emu yelled. “So just... hang tight, and I’ll come back for you guys once he leaves!”
“Couldn’t I just have taken him... anywhere else?” Rui questioned. “Was the supply closet really the best location for hiding him away?”
But no response came. And that’s when Rui realized that Emu had actually left him in the supply closet.
In the supply closet with his cute, drunk friend.
But when Tsukasa began pinching his cheeks, twisting them in various directions, Rui took the initiative to pick the lock from the inside, or at the very least give it a try.
He gently removed himself from Tsukasa and squatted to get on level with the knob. Rui pulled out a bobby pin from his hair and pushed it into the small hole under the knob, jimmying it around.
As he worked, Rui felt a pair of eyes stare him down from behind. He asked, “Is something the matter, Tsukasa-kun?”
Tsukasa stared at him for a moment with a furrowed brow, only to promptly begin to bawl in hysterics. “You...” He took a deep breath before he shouted through his tears. “You look like MELON!”
Rui had no idea if he should have been offended or not.
He merely stared at Tsukasa with a smile tugging at his lips. He was cute, very cute.
But, with a swelling heart, Rui got back to work on the lock.
For the most part, Tsukasa was silent, opting for staring at him instead of actual conversation. This kept on for about five minutes, and Rui simply tried to focus on the task at hand, not the handsome man beside him.
After a few more minutes, Rui couldn’t take it anymore. ”Tsukasa-kun?” Rui asked, hoping to get the eyes off of him. “Must you stare so intently?”
And that’s when Tsukasa giggled from behind him in a sudden change of behaviour. “Hehehe~,” he snorted, “Rui’s thighs are so thick...”
Rui felt a heat rise to his face. Considering his friend’s drunkness, he didn’t bother hiding it. “P-pardon?” Rui muttered as he turned to him.
Tsukasa giggled again with hazy cheeks. “I just wanna put my head in between’em and have you just go SMOOSH!” He made sure to do an explosive gesture with his hands to get the point across.
Rui was suddenly feeling hot. And sweaty. And not aroused at the thought of having Tsukasa’s head in between his thighs. Not at all. That would be totally weird.
When Rui didn’t immediately respond, Tsukasa took it upon himself to squat down to his knees too. He smirked. “I’ll show ya my thighs too if you want. I’ll even take off my-“
”Tsukasa-kun,” Rui said. “You are drunk.”
”Noeamenawt!” (No I’m not, Rui assumed.)
”Please just rest—sit down and try to take a nap... or something.” May as well try and be helpful right?
Tsukasa shook his head. “Only if I rest with you! I wanna put my head back on your thighs!”
And Rui chuckled at this. “Maybe when we’re let out of here,” he said under his breath.
It seems Tsukasa heard him as he breathed out a loud, “Yesssssss,” and made the largest smile. For a moment, Rui felt it could have rivalled the sun.
Maybe a half-drunk sun.
”So how can I help you, cutie?” Tsukasa winked as he shot him finger guns.
At these words, Rui’s lips turned into a thin line. He’s drunk. He wouldn’t be saying these kinds of things if he wasn’t. “Tsukasa-kun,” he said, “please try to not say those kinds of things, okay?”
The man frowned. He shifted to his knees, apparently sore. “No faaaaair! I wanna say what I want!”
”Say what you want when you aren’t drunk,” Rui stated, resuming his work on the lock.
Tsukasa made a ‘pah’ sound with his lips. “Dummy! I won’t have the balls to say all of this stuff on my mind if I’m... um... anti-drunk!”
Rui paused, body going still. “On your...” he murmured, slowly turning to the drunk man beside him. He furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”
“On my mind, duh.” Tsukasa was leaning forward a bit, drawing him in like a magnet. “But anyways... Rui, whaddaya think of me? Ya like me? Wanna kiss me, huh?”
Rui stared at him with a pink hue on his cheeks. “N...” He couldn’t bring himself to deny it.
Rui wanted to embrace him at that moment, and kiss him. Kiss him badly.
But Tsukasa kept speaking, almost like a purr, luring him even closer until their noses were almost touching. “Well, I like Rui. I like him a lot.” He licked his lips and Rui felt himself melting under his gaze. “I, for one, really wanna kiss Rui. I really wanna do a lot of other things with Rui too...”
Rui mumbled, barely forming the words, “You’re.. you’re drunk.”
And Tsukasa stared deep into him, like a lion and its prey. “But I’m not a liar.”
And that’s when he closed the gap.
And that’s when Rui found out that Tsukasa’s lips tasted like champagne and candy, sweet with a slight mint to them.
Rui just stayed there on his knees, taking it all in.
And when the drunken man only deepened the kiss further, Rui felt like he could’ve drowned right then and there in his warmth.
And if he did, he wouldn’t have minded one bit.
Rui experimented, testing the waters, as he licked Tsukasa’s lower lip. To this, Tsukasa backed away, chuckling to himself. “Ooh~! Rui’s finally stepping up to the plate!”
”Oh be quiet,” Rui giggled as he went back for seconds.
Maybe, Rui thought, it would be okay if nobody came back for them, at least for a while.