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Reigen and Ekubo had been on a date.
Once. Months ago now. It hadn’t been an accident. It had been fully intentional, Ekubo had asked Reigen, used the word date and everything. Reigen had worn cologne. They’d gone to a fancy restaurant and Ekubo had, cough cough, recruited, a man Reigen had complimented once when he’d joined them on a job.
“You look nice,” Reigen had said, the words coming out of obligation, or habit, or both, not genuineness.
“Thanks. You too,” Ekubo replied, his usual tone slightly muted by this handsome person’s borrowed throat.
Neither had anything to say after that, so they stepped into the restaurant.
It was busy and loud. The place was a popular spot, especially on a Saturday night. Reigen had whined about how he should have gotten a reservation, which he reiterated when they were told there would be a 45-minute wait for any seating. They sat next to one another on a narrow bench near the door. People kept arriving, some with reservations, most in the same boat as them. The smart ones found somewhere else to eat. The others joined the two of them on the bench, making them squash tight as more and more patrons sat to wait. Ekubo was smushed with the wall on one side, and Reigen on the other, pressed close and closer still as the elderly man beside him kept spreading his legs further as he got comfortable.
Reigen had tried to say something, but the restaurant was so loud that Ekubo couldn’t hear him. He gave up on repeating himself with a sour look, turning his attention instead to the large tropical aquarium directly in front of them.
Finally, finally, long after the old man beside Reigen had dozed off, dangerously close to leaning against him as he slept, long after Ekubo’s borrowed shoulders and ass tingled unpleasantly with sleep, nearly to the point of one or both of them throwing in the towel and asking for a rain check, the hostess reappeared and announced there was a table available for them. Reigen had sprang up, glad to be rid of the man beside him, gladder still not to be pressed so close to Ekubo’s unfamiliar body. This one was handsome, a few years younger than him and taller, more muscular, more… expensive looking, really. He was… handsome. He was .
But that’s all Reigen felt about him.
He wouldn’t admit it, certainly not to Ekubo directly, but he found himself preferring the lanky disheveled guy with the clipped ear the spirit usually showed up with. He was charming and pleasantly goofy from the snatches of conversation he’d caught between the two when the man was unpossessed. He, at least, wouldn’t have been a stranger.
Maybe his presence, even if it was just physical, would’ve eased some of this weird tension between them.
He hadn’t been expecting this to be so uncomfortable. In his mind, when he’d agreed to the date, Reigen came in expecting it to be the same as the few times they’d gotten ramen after work together. At least some semblance of the banter they passed back and forth during the days… But the guy he was with seemed completely different, almost a stranger in how stiff and subdued he was. He really hadn’t taken Ekubo for the nervous type, but maybe he’d been wrong.
Reigen pushed these thoughts from his mind as he followed the hostess, forcing a smile as he glanced back at Ekubo to make sure he was following. He was, but his gaze was trained on the floor, expression unreadable.
Which hadn’t been exactly reassuring.
They were seated, made awkward small talk, looked over their menus. Reigen bit back his urge to pick whatever was least expensive, instead using that energy to order a glass of unpronounceable red wine. It was easy to turn his attention away from how stilted their night had been now that they were in the thick of the other patrons, some laughing boisterously with bellies full of expensive food and drink, others talking low and close over empty plates, all secretive smiles, and low key hand-holding.
Reigen suddenly gasped, and Ekubo looked up from his menu through comically long eyelashes, seriously, this guy was ridiculously attractive, way too out of Reigen’s league, he couldn’t imagine what other people were thinking of them.
“What?” Ekubo asked, a flash of perfect white teeth as he smiled around the word.
“That… little girl,” Reigen answered, glancing at her surreptitiously. Ekubo twisted in his seat to look at her.
“What about her?” he asked after a moment of direct staring. Sometimes Reigen forgot how little Ekubo was for subtlety.
“She just put a mushroom in her mother’s purse,” Reigen said and stared in shock as she did it again, this time, a fishcake.
Ekubo laughed, a sudden, loud thing. The first genuine thing Reigen had seen from him all night. He’d always liked his laugh.
Not that he’d ever admit that, of course.
“Oh my god,” he shook his head at her, scoffing his shock as they watched her drop a pinch of noodles into the purse after the fishcake, seemingly intent on making the handbag more ramen than the bowl in front of her.
Ekubo had turned around, and they shared a chuckle, a laugh that was only for them, over something that seemingly only they had noticed. It felt good to have that, like Reigen had, at long last, found a way to make this date go smoother. For a moment it felt as though the air of weirdness surrounding this date had suddenly been vented, and they could be normal again.
But then the laughter died, and they were left again in uncomfortable silence.
It stuck around until the waitress came back, setting down Reigen’s wine and Ekubo’s water. The spirit eyed the glass for a moment, then looked up at the blond, who pretended not to notice his gaze. He instead looked at the waitress, who’s eyes lingered on Ekubo before glancing at him, her expression nearly one of confusion. Ah, well. He couldn’t really blame her. Ekubo seriously couldn’t have picked a guy who wasn’t supermodel material?
He ordered, and he tried to swallow his insecure thoughts, which proved to be difficult as the waitress took every opportunity to lean into Ekubo’s space, point things out on the menu, and explain things enthusiastically and way too close.
Ekubo didn’t even seem as though he minded.
Reigen wished he was literally anywhere else.
He took a long drink of his wine.
When the waitress finally left, Reigen definitely did not have anything to say. He took another gulp of wine and went back to people watching. Ekubo took the hint or didn’t. Either way, he didn’t bother him. They waited for their food in silence.
Reigen finished his glass of wine and flagged down a server the first chance he got for another one.
“Are you sure you should be drinking?” Ekubo asked. By now, Reigen’s face was well flushed, which only stoked a hot flash of annoyance that washed over him.
“It’s a Saturday night. I can if I want.”
“Don’t you have an appointment tomorrow?”
“I’m an adult. I’m aware of my appointment.”
“Okay.”
Their food arrived.
It, at least, was amazing. Reigen didn’t know anything about the dynamic ins and outs of fancy food preparation, but he did know that this was delicious. Maybe it was the wine or the long wait, or maybe he was glad to have a distraction. It was almost enough to make him glad he’d come out tonight. Ekubo seemed to be enjoying his meal as well, but still, they didn’t talk. Just a polite, silent dinner between friends. In Reigen’s eyes, as far as dates went, this one had been a failure. It was unfortunate, but it was the truth. He really could’ve sworn they’d been more compatible, but… he’d been wrong before. And he certainly was wrong now.
By the time he finished his second glass of wine, he was giggly. Ekubo asked for the check as soon as the waitress came by to clear their plates, and paid just as fast.
He was grateful when they stepped out of the busy restaurant into the refreshingly chilly night. He pulled his dress shirt loose from where it was tucked into his slacks and loosened his black tie, feeling far too buttoned-up, especially now that they were mostly away from stranger’s eyes.
“This was nice,” he said, despite how awful of a time he’d been having all night.
“It was,” Ekubo agreed, but Reigen could tell he felt much the same.
They paused there, Reigen shoving his hands in his pockets, Ekubo looking down at him. Reigen realized that he didn’t like it when the other was taller than him, not unless he was floating above him. That was comforting. This was… weird. This handsome face was weird.
“I should really walk you home,” he said then. Reigen chuckled, slow and heavy with red wine and way too expensive food.
“You don’t sound like you want to.”
There was a beat, and he knew he’d said the too honest thing.
“You didn’t have fun tonight, did you?” Ekubo asked. Reigen took in a breath through his nose and looked to the street beside them.
“No. Not really,” he answered finally.
There was a pause. Reigen had drank too much to worry about if he’d said the wrong thing again. He was often too honest where he shouldn’t be, lied where he shouldn’t, never knowing when to use his so finely honed skills.
“I didn’t either,” Ekubo finally said. At this, Reigen looked at him, doing his best to look surprised. Of course, he wasn’t. He could read the spirit like a book, especially when he was in a body he wasn’t used to.
“Don’t look so shocked, lover boy,” Ekubo groused, glaring at him. Reigen broke his awful attempt at acting with a crooked smile, huffing a chuckle. He sighed after a moment.
“It was nice to give it a try,” he said, looking up at the other man as he did, giving him what might’ve been the first straight-on look of the night.
“Yeah,” he agreed with a nod. He offered a hand, one with perfect nails and a heavy silver ring on one of the slender fingers. Reigen took it all the same, giving it a small shake. “I’m glad we know now.”
“Yeah,” he smirked as he pulled his hand away. “I don’t ever want to see this guy again.”
“Why?” Ekubo smirked in turn. “Don’t like that I get more pull with him than you do?”
Reigen laughed, loud and ugly, and shoved the spirit playfully, more than a little glad that things between them were back to normal.
Because they were.
Back to normal.
Reigen stared at the scrap of paper that sat in the center of his desk. Something about it and the digits scrawled onto it made him wildly anxious. He knew it was stupid, he knew he had no reason to be. It still felt like a mistake. When she’d written out her number on the back of a blank receipt and passed it to him with a wink, he’d almost objected out loud. Excuse me, miss, you’ve got the wrong guy. You see, I’m a conman who hasn’t gotten a date since the last one his mother set up for him. My only friends are a middle schooler that I underpay to hang out with me and a ghost that I tried to date and failed. You cannot possibly mean to give this to me, and if you did, you should seriously rethink your life choices.
But he hadn’t said that.
Instead, he’d taken the number and stumbled from the place in a trance, all the way back to the building, up the stairs, and into the office, and then into his chair, where he sat, staring dumbfounded at some loopily handwritten numbers.
“What are you doing?”
The voice scared him so bad he yelped, standing abruptly as if he’d been caught. He whirled around to face the owner of the voice… but it was just Ekubo, who was staring at him with confusion.
“You need to stop scaring me like that,” he glowered. “Before I seriously invest in some spray air freshener,” the threat was empty, but it was a threat all the same. He sat back down then, doing his best to ignore the piece of paper in front of him, wanting it to be nothing more than a scrap with some numbers on it.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Am I obligated to?”
“When anyone catches anyone doing anything and they react like that… the catcher is obligated to an answer from the caught.”
“I hate when you speak like an old scroll.”
“No, you don’t,” Ekubo hummed with a chuckle that Reigen could only roll his eyes at. “What’s up?” he asked again, a little less judgemental this time.
Reigen sighed. He supposed he could tell him. It wasn’t as if it was secret. And even if it was, who would Ekubo tell? Mob? He wouldn’t care for a second.
“A girl gave me her number,” he said.
“Oh. Is it a case? Like, a real one. Because that would explain why you’re so--”
“No, you jackass. She gave me her number because she was flirting with me.”
There was a beat.
“Oh.”
There was another beat.
And then, “When’s the last time you were on a date?”
“Um…” Reigen sighed, leaning back in his chair and looking up at Ekubo. “Did ours count?”
The corner of his mouth pulled to the side, a look of pity.
“Sure,” the spirit replied, to humor him.
“Then, that, I guess. It’d been a while before that.”
“Maybe that’s why you were such a colossally bad date.”
Reigen glared blankly at him.
“You weren't much of a Cassanova yourself.”
“Yeah but…” Ekubo sighed. “You could’ve at least picked a place you wanted to go.”
Reigen’s brows furrowed slightly at this.
“I wanted to go there. That’s why I picked it.”
“No, you wanted to look like you had class. You wanted to go to the karaoke place we passed on the way there. I was waiting for you to say something about it the whole night!”
“How was I supposed to know that?” Reigen threw up his hands, frowning now.
“You weren’t. You were supposed to pick right in the first place.”
These words only made him frown deeper. He thought he had picked the right place. It was the perfect date destination, and the guy Ekubo had brought along fit so well into the setting.
But, he supposed, he certainly hadn’t. And when he thought about it, neither had Ekubo himself, really.
“Just be yourself. That’s why she gave you her number.”
“I don’t think I’m ever myself,” Reigen admitted with a wry smile. Ekubo smirked at him.
“Then, just pretend.”
Reigen’s phone rang, and he fumbled for it, grateful to think of something else. He answered the call, and by the time he’d charmed the pants off the prospective client on the other end, Ekubo was gone.
Reigen never ended up calling that girl. He always found an excuse not to, and soon enough, he lost the phone number. He couldn’t bring himself to mourn the loss for more than a few moments. In fact, he was a bit relieved.
‘just got done w a date. wouldve been nice if u’d asked me where i wanted 2 go’
Reigen read the text with a blank face.
And then he read it again.
And a third time.
It didn’t matter how many times he read it though, each time he only had more questions, and none answered. Ekubo was dating? Who? With who? Where had they gone? Where would Ekubo have wanted to go on their date?? Did Reigen know this person he was dating?
Okay, that last one was unlikely. At least he had one answer.
He looked back to the small screen, brows furrowing slightly. He had no idea how to respond. He was… happy that Ekubo was dating.
But the thought of him having fun with someone else when they’d had such a mediocre time together sent a pang of hurt through his chest, and he didn’t know why. Reigen looked again at the tiny screen, brows furrowing once more at the pixelated text. His hurt transitioned fluidly into annoyance. Ekubo was doing this to be annoying. That’s what their dynamic was. He shouldn’t let himself be upset about it.
He had no reason to be.
Really.
‘oh. i’ll keep that in mind, lol.’
Why did a ghost need a phone? Why did said ghost keep texting him using his phone? Why was he telling him about his dating life? Who was he dating? Was it a different person every time? Why did Reigen care so much?
Why did Reigen care so much?
He cared. He didn’t want to, but he did. Every text he got from the spirit now was tips on how he could improve his dating skills, more than often with a stupid anecdote attached.
‘doing something during the day couldv been fun. like coffee or smthn’
‘a gift wouldve been nice takachan ;p’
‘u werent vry talkative like at all. i like talkin w my date.’
He could feel himself getting more and more annoyed with every message he got. He’d given up on replying to them. He didn’t want to care, which only made him care more because he was so caught up in the desire to not care. Was Ekubo telling him these things because he wanted him to improve so they could go on another date? Was he supposed to send critiques back? He hated how many questions he had. He missed when their relationship was simple, just guy and ghost, tossing insults and weird near flirts without a second thought.
And then they’d gone and complicated things with that bizarre date. Maybe they should’ve talked more initially, or after the fact, figured out where they went wrong from the start.
It was too late now, of course. He’d just have to grin and bear it. After all, how bad could a couple of texts here and there be?
“How would you feel about a double date?”
“ What?”
They stared at one another, silent and unblinking, for at least thirty seconds.
“Well, y'know. You got that girl’s number a while back. I just figured it’d be easier to see all my expert tips in action”
Reigen could only stare at him for a few more moments, mind completely blank. How was he expected to respond to this? Why was it impossible for him to just agree? Reigen opened his mouth, taking a breath to stall, blinking a few times.
“Alright,” he began. “You know what? I don’t want your stupid tips. I don’t need your stupid tips. I got a date with you in the first place, didn’t I?”
“And you blew it,” Ekubo hummed.
“Two people go on a date, you know,” Reigen snapped as he jumped to his feet, planting his hands on the desk between them. “We were both there. We both blew it. You were just as much of a shitty date as I was.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, really.”
“You’re sure?”
“What, do I need to prove it to you?”
“Are you asking me on a second date, Reigen?” Ekubo spoke on a singsong, smirking teasingly. By now he was leaned in as well, their faces just a few inches from each other’s, just an impulse away.
The blond knit his jaw, brows furrowed hard enough to give himself a headache.
“Yes. I am.”
“Then,” Ekubo paused. He brought slender fingers to Reigen’s collar, carefully fixing the knot of his tie. Cool fingers brushed against the overheating skin of his throat, and just like that, Reigen could hear his pulse thrumming in his ears. “I accept,” he finished, smoothing fingers a few inches down the line of Reigen’s tie.
The blond snapped out of his stupor with a start, smacking the other’s hands away and puffing himself up again, indignant.
“I have stipulations,” he stated. Ekubo laughed.
“Is this an upcoming date or a business contract?”
“Both,” Reigen replied flatly, and Ekubo laughed again, hand to his chest and bowed back with it. It was incredibly hard to keep his smile stifled. Ekubo was infectious.
“Alright, then. Lay ‘em on me,” the spirit hummed once he’d contained himself enough to do so.
Reigen’s hand flailed momentarily, jumping to life to still on one finger outstretched, pointing at the other in the space between them.
“You have to tell me where you want to go,” he began. Another finger joined the first. “Don’t… bring anybody else, okay? It’s like going out with a stranger, and I don't want to go out with a stranger.”
Ekubo blinked, expression confused momentarily, before he covered that up with a mean little smirk. Yeah, that had been a little more revealing than he wanted it to be.
“It’s not a stranger. It’s still me in here, Reigen. If you just want to date this guy, then—“
“No,” Reigen interrupted with a firm shake of his head. “No, I mean, like… A stranger is a stranger to both of us. I’m comfortable with this guy, and so are you.”
“That’s… not how it works, exactly…”
“Yes, it is,” Reigen said, rolling his eyes. “I’m very good at reading people, y’know.”
“Oh yeah?” Ekubo chuckled, once again looking down a sharp nose at the other man, smirking away. “And what do I say?”
Reigen smirked in turn, again putting his hand on the surface between them, leaning on it, staring into green hazed brown eyes.
“That you want to go out with me sooo bad,” he said quietly, deadpanning to get under the spirit’s skin.
To his surprise, Ekubo didn’t snort, or roll his eyes, or make a snarky retort. Instead, he just looked at him, his lips parting slightly. He breathed out, and Reigen felt it against his upper lip. Goosebumps rose on the back of his neck, and he swallowed hard, glancing again at the other’s mouth.
The office door suddenly opened, bell above it jangling merrily. Reigen practically leapt out from behind the desk, rushing away from the charged interaction they’d just had, slipping into business mode as he greeted the customer, wanting to run away from whatever he’d just been feeling, whatever they’d just been on the precipice of.
Ekubo stayed stuck in front of the desk, one hand still remaining on the surface, a lost expression on his face.
Reigen traced the bottom edge of his tall glass, scraping his blunt nail through the condensation. He’d hadn’t had his first sip yet, wanting to ensure one (and only one) drink lasted all night.
He’d been sitting alone for twenty minutes now. It was hard not to constantly check his phone, but he was slowly running the battery down, and not having the option to check it would make him even more anxious.
“That’s him,” a familiar, elevated voice said from across the restaurant. Reigen perked up, twisting to spot Ekubo accompanied by his usual host speaking to the hostess. “If you just let me pass, you’ll see.”
They both looked at Reigen, who could only smile sheepishly. The hostess looked at him sourly, and Ekubo grinned, waving a flirty finger-waggling wave. He felt himself relax at the sight, his smile becoming a little more genuine.
After a few more annoyed words exchanged between Ekubo and the hostess, he was crossing the restaurant towards Reigen with long strides. When he got to the table, he extended a hand, showing off a cheesy smile. Reigen hesitantly took it, returning his smile with a slightly confused one of his own.
“Pleasure to be meeting you for dinner, business associate,” he greeted, shaking Reigen’s hand cordially. Reigen rolled his eyes, chuckling despite himself.
“The pleasure is all mine, fellow business associate,” he hummed, laying his free hand against his chest, chin up and eyes closed, an expression of regality.
Ekubo snorted immediately, squeezing Reigen’s hand and breaking into a laugh. Something about his laugh always made Reigen join in. Infectious. They laughed until they got dirty looks from the other patrons, which didn’t take long. Both of them cackling simultaneously was certainly a sound.
When the spirit sat down across from him, he was still holding his hand, thumb grazing across his knuckles a few times.
“Not very professional,” Reigen noted, raising his brows.
“You’ll find that I handle my partnerships more business-casually….”
Reigen laughed again, a genuine thing, sharp and unattractive in the air between them, so different from his usual inoffensive and practiced chuckle.
“You’re annoying,” he sighed, in a tone too soft to hold any malice. He perched his chin on his free hand, regarding Ekubo momentarily. He looked slightly frazzled, slightly nervous. That put Reigen at ease.
This was already going so much better than the last time.
“Yeah, like you’re such a peach yourself,” Ekubo replied easily.
“I am!” he scoffed, laughing again. A couple to their left stood, shooting nasty looks in their direction as they left in a huff. Reigen rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink. He set it down lightly, carefully situating it on the condensation ring it had already left.
“What made you pick this place? You’ve never mentioned it before,” Reigen spoke up again, afraid of silence.
“Oh, I got kicked out of here last month.”
“ What?”
“Good evening, can I get you started with some drinks?”
Ekubo placed an order for some unpronounceable red wine, and Reigen wordlessly gestured to his own barely touched drink, all the while staring a hole in his dinner companion, mortified by what he’d just told him and how quickly it was swept under the rug. When the waitress finally left, Reigen practically lurched forward, closing in the space of their table, looking at Ekubo very seriously.
“Why were you kicked out?” he hissed. The spirit just smirked, planting an elbow on the table and perching his chin on his hand, leveling a look on the other, the distance between them limited in a way that made Reigen’s heart rate pick up.
“They couldn’t handle how sexy I am,” he replied evenly, and Reigen knit his jaw, fighting hard against the urge to smile.
It was no use. He’d always been terrible at deadpan, at holding in a smile when one wanted to come out. He was especially terrible at these things in the presence of Ekubo, who seemed to always make him worse at all those things he practiced so religiously.
He snorted, looking away as another ugly laugh bursted from him, as everyone in the restaurant besides Ekubo shot them more dirty looks, and as Ekubo regarded him with one of the softest looks he’d ever been regarded with.
He didn’t notice any of these looks, because he was too busy laughing, the kind that scrunched his nose and squeezed his eyes shut. The kind that didn’t stop once it started, the kind that carried them through all the idle chatter leading up to food ordering.
Once that was out of the way, and Reigen had impulsively ordered a second cocktail, they looked at each other for a few moments. The moments dragged, and his mouth went dry as silence loomed above them. He watched Ekubo take a polite sip of wine, and took a breath in as he lowered it.
“Do you want to just… go?” the other man asked as he carefully set his glass down.
“What?” Reigen asked, raising his brows. Ekubo leaned down and close, conspiratory, his grin one that made Reigen excited to be on the receiving end.
“Let’s get out of here,” he said softly.
“What, you mean… just…” he trailed off, glancing at the door.
Ekubo nodded.
Reigen had never dined and dashed before. He glanced again at the door, and the people around them, and their not-so-surreptitious glances, and the not-too-quiet muttering. He looked back at the man across the table, at his familiar, brilliant grin.
“Yeah. Let’s do it,” he breathed with a resolute nod.
Ekubo’s grin only grew, and he leaned back, glancing around himself. He smirked at the blond, grabbing his wine glass once again, and downing the expensive wine in one go. He set the glass down abruptly, and flashed a daring grin.
“Are you ready?”
Reigen felt his heartbeat pick up, felt a flush unfold across his face. Despite these things, he nodded.
“Okay…” Ekubo paused, letting tension build, a terrible little grin continuing to stain his face. Reigen bit his bottom lip, chewing on it nervously. His heart hammered in his ears. “Now!” the spirit abruptly blurted, before jumping from his seat. Reigen followed suit, scrambling after the other man. His hand was grabbed as they rushed past the front desk, and in seconds they were barreling through the door and out onto the street, sprinting in a random direction for about a block and a half before Reigen had to stop, his breathlessness fighting violently against his need to laugh.
He leaned against a pole, laughing to the best of his ability, hand to his sweaty forehead. Ekubo stood beside him, doubled over, his hands to his knees, wheezing through his own attempts at laughter.
It slowly began to rain as they stood under the streetlamp, the dusk growing darker as a downpour picked up. Ekubo straightened, shedding his black jacket and stepping closer, holding it over them both as a makeshift umbrella. Reigen hugged his sides as he huffed his last few chuckles, looking up at the other as the rain quickly developed into something sudden and loud, the summer air thankfully keeping things warm.
“We’re both going to get soaked anyways,” he said softly.
“Are you complaining about my chivalry, Reigen?” Ekubo asked, cocking an eyebrow as they looked at one another.
Reigen put a hand on the other man’s chest, his cool body temperature against the warm night air a familiar thing, a lovely thing. He glanced at his lips, watched his small smirk fall, his lips part as he exhaled. Reigen could smell the red wine on his breath, and in another moment, he could taste it on his lips, the other man leaning down to close the distance between them.
He tipped his chin, nose slotting against the other’s as the kiss deepened. Ekubo let the jacket above them down, letting it fall on Reigen’s shoulders and using it to pull him closer.
Within moments, they were drenched. Reigen had never kissed anyone in the rain before. Rivulets traveled down their faces, slipping between the seams between their bodies. The jacket around him was heavy and cold, and glued his button up to his skin.
Finally, he broke the kiss, curling fingers in the other's wet shirt, letting out a breathless laugh.
“This jacket is ruined,” he murmured.
“Is that really all you have to say?” Ekubo asked on a laugh of his own, bowing his head against the other’s, their foreheads meeting gently.
“Yup,” he sighed. “It wasn’t that great,” he said, his tone, his smile, their proximity, all giving away how much of a lie that was.
They stayed like this for a few more breaths, listening to the rain pour around them, syncing up their breathing. Eventually, Reigen began to shiver, in a bone-deep, teeth-chattering way.
“We should get you home,” Ekubo finally said, pulling away, slipping the saturated suit jacket off of his shoulders and folding it over one arm. “You’re going to get sick out here.”
Reigen rolled his eyes, but hooked a finger in one of the spirit’s belt loops, linking them together and determined to keep them that way.
“Fine,” he said with a content little smile. It was Ekubo’s turn to roll his eyes, but he put an arm around Reigen’s waist all the same, steering him in the way of home.
Reigen looked down at himself as they walked, and abruptly stopped walking, immediately let out a bark of a laugh, one that threw his head back and made him lean into Ekubo, helpless to the attack.
“What the hell’s with you?” Ekubo asked, nudging his side, which just sent him into another peal of laughter as he flinched away.
When he’d finally composed himself enough to speak, he coughed a few times, wiping tears and rain from his eyes.
“I forgot my jacket at the restaurant.”