Work Text:
the brisk cool air pricked at kunikida’s skin as he walked. the lightly damp pavement was just starting to slick over with ice as the temperature dropped below zero. winter was at its height, bringing short, chilled days and long, cold nights to yokohama.
as he approached his friend, katai’s, apartment, kunikida tugged his scarf tighter around his neck in a somewhat vain attempt to shield himself from the wind. it was just beginning to pick up, blowing his hair and scarf in an irritating manner.
finally arriving outside of katai’s apartment, kunikida let himself in, entering swifty to ensure that little warm air escaped from inside the small apartment. the inside was quite chilled, not nearly as cold as the outside, but not as warm as the agency’s office had been. wiping the fog off of his glasses, kunikida placed the grocery bag he had brought onto the table, careful to avoid any garbage that lay on the floor. he made a mental note to clean it up later.
approaching the room where katai stayed, the hum of a computer fan could be heard. “hello katai.” kunikida greeted, surveying the room for the other man. there was movement from the futon before katai’s head poked out, looking up at kunikida.
kunikida
almost
smiled at the sight. “i brought ingredients to make warm drinks and ramen if you so desire.”
katai yawned before laying back down. “i think i’m alright for now, thank you.” kunikida could almost hear the smile in his words. “join me.” katai said, gesturing to a free spot on the futon where kunikida could sit.
he complied, sitting down on the empty space, feeling some of the tension from his shoulders release. “i have a proposal,” he began, turning to look at katai.
“i'm not going out with that girl i helped out a while back. i refuse.” katai immediately protested, pulling the cover over his head, burrowing downwards.
kunikida chuckled under his breath as he watched katai. “i wasn’t going to ask you that. besides, sakura is already happily taken and much too young for you.” an unspoken ‘
that goes against the ideal anyways’
passes between them.
“oh.”
“i was going to ask if you would like to spend new years with me.” katai poked his head out from the futon once again.
“oh, um, sure. i’d love to.”
“great.” an uncomfortable silence spilled across the room, allowing for the harsh hum of the computer fan to be heard once more.
katai shifted around under the covers, adjusting the position he was lying in. “so, um, how was work?” he asked, very obviously trying to fill the silence.
“it was.” kunikida thought for a moment. “it was alright.”
“do anything interesting?”
“sure, i suppose.”
“tell me about it?” kunikida obliged to the request, telling katai about his day, and the newest case that the agency had received.
a small sound from katai brought kunikida’s retelling of his day to a halt. looking down at his friend, now curled into something resembling a fatal position, he asked “are you ok?”
katai’s teeth chattered ever so slightly “it’s cold.”
kunikida hadn’t really noticed the chill of the apartment at the time, but once katai pointed it out, it became a lot harder to ignore. the room was not warm, and now that he was once again aware of his body he noticed how numb his fingers were. the rest of his body felt quite warm, aside from his ears and nose. “i’ll go make us warm drinks and some ramen.” he offered, attempting to stand up.
katai quickly sat up, grabbing at kunikida’s arm, pulling him back down. kunikida looked at him in shock, and katai mirrored his expression. “sorry.” he muttered, hand still on kunikida’s arm.
“it’s alright.”
“your arm is warm.”
kunikida flexed his fingers, trying to warm them. “is it?”
“yeah.” katai looked down at his lap, eyes scanning the futon. “do you think you could lay down with me?” when kunikida didn’t reply, katai swiftly added on, “just for warmth, of course.” with a light blush dusting his cheeks.
kunikida didn’t reply, he simply pushed katai over slightly, laying down beside him. katai adjusted the futon so it covered the two of them. he was about to wrap his arms around kunikida, when he stopped moving.
“um,,,,”
kunikida glanced at katai, “go ahead.” so katai wrapped his arms around kunikida, savouring the warmth of the other man.
kunikida shifted slightly, trying to get a little bit more comfortable. his hands brushed against katai causing the older man to let out a yelp. “your hands are fucking freezing.” he spoke in a whisper.
“shit, sorry. um.” came a whispered reply as kunikida tried to find a place to put his hands.
katai glanced down at his own hands before looking back up at kunikida. “give me your hands” kunikida held his hands out towards katai, while the other man intertwined their fingers. the two of them didn’t say anything, they just laid there, their hands intertwined.
“i’m feeling a little bit warmer already.” katai commented, not quite ready for silence to consume the room.
“i’m glad.” there was a hum of thought “i read somewhere that humans exchange body heat better naked.” kunikida finally stated, as though unaware of the sexual implications behind such a statement.
katai simply stared at kunikida in some form of shock, a dull blush tinting his cheeks, not being able to form a coherent sentence he continued to stare on.
kunikida’s eyes widened for only a moment as he realized what he had said. he quickly pulled his hand away from katai’s, as though repulsed by human touch. bringing his left hand close to his chest, he began shaking and waving it in the air aggressively. there's a look of almost guilt on his face as he pulled himself out from under the futon. standing up, still shaking his hand, he stuttered out “i’m going to go make us warm drinks.” before he fled out the door.
----
when kunikida finally returned, katai had hardly moved. placing the drink in front of the other, he continued to stand. katai took the drink into his hands, taking a slow sip, careful not to burn himself. “hot chocolate,” he observed.
kunikida could only nod, letting the room fall back into silence. “i’m sorry.” the words seemed forced, as though he was straining to speak.
“it’s ok. i wasn’t- i didn’t- i’m not, like that. sexually.” katai struggled to explain himself. another nod from kunikida, and the both of them took a sip from their drinks. “you can sit back down.” katai offered.
kunikida didn’t speak, only nodding again. but he sat down on the futon, taking another sip from his drink. “doppo?” katai called out, using kunikida’s first name. “are you ok?”
kunikida looked up, his fingers fidgeting in an odd way. with his other hand, he pulled out his phone. katai’s mouth fell into a bit of an o shape, before he dug around in duffle bag beside one of his computers.
katai turned back around, holding out a small cube to kunikida. kunikida took the cube in his hand, fidgeting with it quietly. after a moment, he began typing on his phone.
once he finished, he slipped the phone over to katai, letting the other read the messages he typed into the notes app. there’s a date at the top ‘xx/xx/xxxx’ and their location ‘- katai’s apartment.’ below these were two simple lines of text.
‘thank you - 5;54 pm’ the first one read. katai glanced up, smiling “anytime.” he looked back down at the second line of text. ‘im sorry - 5;55 pm.’ katai frowned a little. “you don’t need to be sorry.” he said, sliding the phone back to kunikida. “is there anything i can do?”
kunikida began typing once again, sliding the phone back to katai when he finished. ‘could we return to what we were doing before? - 5;57 pm.’
katai finished off his drink, moving over to make room for kunikida. “sure.” his face was a little bit red, and it wasn’t due to the cold. kunikida moved his drink out of the way before lying down beside katai.
katai didn’t say anything, he didn’t feel the need to anymore. he just simply wrapped his arms around kunikida before he closed his eyes.