Work Text:
(D-0 Kaiser Day)
Looking back, Sae realized that the problem had both started and ended with Michael Kaiser.
Sae had a comfortable job at one of the best consulting firms in the country. He had been at the top of his class both in his undergrad and MBA program, and he was the youngest employee to ever be promoted to the executive level at his firm. He worked hard for what he had, and he had a lot. He stood out in every room he walked in. He had success down to a formula.
So why, he wondered, as he settled into his seat at the third quarter executive board meeting, was he sitting next to this freak, the antithesis of everything Itoshi Sae stood for?
The first thing Sae noticed about the newest hire was the sheer number of flagrant dress code violations he had managed to stack up during his first day on the job. One: no tie. Two: No suit jacket. Three: the top two buttons of his white button up were undone. What did he think he was doing, filming a porno? Four: hair dyed an obnoxious blue at the tips. Five: visible tattoos on his neck and his hand. Seven… no, fuck, he had lost count.
Sae could feel those blue eyes on him.
“I don’t think we’ve met yet,” The man said, sticking out his hand. He had the type of easy charisma that Sae couldn’t help but hate. “My name is Michael Kaiser. Call me Michael.”
Damn bloodsucker. Sae knew his type already.
Giving his hand a firm shake, Sae fixed the most genial expression he could muster onto his face. “Certainly. A pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. Kaiser. I’m Sae Itoshi.”
Kaiser’s stupid, easy smile remained fixed on his face, his hand still gripping Sae’s. “Pleasure’s mine, Sae. I’ve heard plenty about you already.”
“All good things, I hope?” Sae felt his smile tighten. Who did this bastard think he was, getting so familiar right off the bat?
Kaiser shrugged. “Sure.”
And it really had just gone downhill from there.
--
(D+2 Kaiser Day)
“I would like you to take on the leadership of this project together.” The CEO held out a sealed manila envelope. He had called both Sae and Kaiser into his office for an assignment. Part of Sae wished he could be anywhere but here. “This company is an app developer looking for two young consultants to bring a fresh perspective to some of the issues they have been facing. I strongly recommended the two of you, and I trust that you will represent us well. Understood?”
“Yes sir,” Sae said. “Thank you so much for entrusting us with this. We will handle it with the utmost care and precision.”
“Absolutely,” Kaiser snatched the envelope from the CEO’s hands.
Sae sighed. This project was already off to a terrible start.
--
(D+4 Kaiser Day, D-16 Proposal Submission Day)
“I’ve taken the liberty of compiling a document with a few possible strategies we could use to solve the core problem that’s been posed to us in this project.” Sae said, handing a stack of papers to Kaiser. He had called the other into his office, and had to admit he was having a bit of a power trip seeing the cocky, ingracious man sitting across from him in the same chair his subordinates sat in when he fired them. It was a nice change of pace, and honestly, the least he deserved after pulling two consecutive all nighters drafting this proposal. After all, there was no way he would be allowing the other to take charge on such an important project.
“Mmmhmm,” Kaiser said, flipping through the stack. “And remind me again, what is the core problem we’re facing here?”
“Increasing the app user base by attracting new users.” Sae’s eyebrows pinched together. Did this bastard really not even read the briefing?
“Right, right,” Kaiser said, coming to the end of the stack. “Actually no, wrong.”
“What?”
Sae watched in horror as Kaiser took the stack of paper, neatly folded it in half , and dumped it in the waste paper bin next to Sae’s desk.
“You’re wrong, and this is trash. Come on, I expected more from the great Sae Itoshi.”
Sae felt the muscles in his jaw clench. Who the fuck was this guy, thinking he could walk into Sae’s office, take Sae’s project, look at the proposal once, and just say ‘trash’?
Sae had not spent three fucking years working up the corporate ladder for this scumbag to walk in and dismiss his work after just a few days.
“Get the fuck out of my office.”
Kaiser held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Don’t blame me, blame yourself. I know you can do better than this.”
“You don’t know anything about me.” Sae snarled.
“You’d be surprised. Top of your class at Wharton? I graduated from Sloan the year after. I did my final semester cases analysis off of the case you won the Kelley competition with. I know you, Sae Itoshi. You’re the reason I applied to this company in the first place.”
Sae couldn’t prevent the surprised noise he made at those words.
“But now look at you,” Kaiser bemoaned, shrugging his shoulders. “Attract new users? What a joke. Clearly the spark is gone and I wasted my time coming here.”
It was bait. Sae knew it was bait. But damn him if it wasn’t good.
“Okay, so what do you think the core problem is?”
--
(D+6 Kaiser Day, D-14 Proposal Submission Day)
They spent the better part of the next few days working through the briefing from scratch. As much as Sae hated to admit it, Kaiser had been right. His proposal had been dull and uninspired. It may have passed an executive board review, but it wouldn’t change much if it was implemented. Their problem was much more insidious than that.
“It all really boils down to user retention,” Kaiser tapped his computer screen with the back of his pen.
Sae grit his teeth. Why was this guy so loud? Always clicking his pen, tapping his feet, or drumming his fingers against his desk. He was impossible to tune out.
“Okay, user retention,” Sae said. “How does that address the issue?”
Kaiser leaned back and grinned. “Your turn, princess. Show me that your head isn't just for decoration.”
Sae’s grip on his pen was so hard it was a wonder the plastic barrel didn’t snap.
“Need a hint?”
Sae pointedly ignored him and turned back to his computer screen. He paged through the information he had. User retention… user retention…
Oh, fuck.
“Got it now?” Kaiser said, seeing the change in Sae’s expression.
“Shut up.” He turned his laptop to face Kaiser, showing him a fairly unassuming graph on the fourth page of their briefing. “Most users drop the app right around the three year mark. That's around the same as the average smartphone replacement period.”
“Bingo.”
“But why aren’t people just transferring their data over when they get a new phone?”
They looked at each other.
“The data.” Kaiser said.
“The size of the app is just too big for comfortable data transfer across devices. Instead of dealing with the hassle of doing a data transfer, users prefer to delete it and start again as a new user even if they lose their data.”
Kaiser pursed his lips. “I guess it’s a quality of life thing. People don't want to lose their data, but for most people their desire for a seamless process outweighs their desire to save old data.”
“And,” Sae said, “ They’re probably just using the new user incentive that came with their old account instead of giving it out to other people the way the initiative intended. That’s probably artificially inflating new user numbers while disincentivizing actual new users.”
“So we just need to find a way to minimize data usage and optimize storage.”
“Easier said than done,” Sae pointed out. “The developers would have our head if they heard us talking about this. If there was an easy way to do that they would’ve done it already, don't you think?”
“Sure,” Kaiser shrugged. “So what do you propose?”
“Well, we don't want to seem like we’re downgrading the quality,” Sae said, scribbling his thoughts down on a notepad. “We make it an opt-in, luxury feature.”
Kaiser frowned. “How does that help with user retention? Users who are willing to pay a premium for data offloading could probably afford to transfer their data over in the first place.”
Sae grinned. “Exactly. Offloading should be the default.”
He could see the moment the light bulb went off in Kaiser’s head. “Opt-in paid premium to have all your data available at your fingertips. That’s awfully shrewd of you, Sae.”
If Sae’s cheeks colored a little at the compliment, it was covered by the light reflecting off of his computer screen.
--
(D+12 Kaiser Day, D-8 Proposal Submission Day)
Sae could practically feel his eyes drooping. The multiple nights of four hours of sleep in a row working on this project had been catching up to him, and fast.
“Awe, does the princess need some coffee?”
“Fuck off, Kaiser,”
“I didn’t know the prim and proper Sae Itoshi had such a potty mouth on him,”
“Only for you, bitch,”
“I guess I’m just special. Cream and sugar?”
“A latte.”
“Oh, I should’ve guessed. Princess can’t handle real coffee.”
“I said fuck off,”
Clearly, their work on this project was not improving their relationship. Sae would expect nothing less. Kaiser was still the brat who had walked in, unprofessional and unprepared, and trampled over Sae’s pride.
Sae righted himself and blinked a few times to clear the spots from his vision. He was going to work his ass off on this project, Kaiser or no Kaiser.
--
(D+18 Kaiser Day, D-2 Proposal Submission Day)
“Done.” Sae said, allowing his head to drop face down onto his pillowed arms.
“Nice work.” Sae could practically hear the lazy smirk in Kaiser’s voice. He hated it.
He did have to admit, though, that their proposal was good. It was certainly better than the one he had come up with on his own.
“So,” Kaiser’s chair squeaked. “Why’d you fuck it up at first?”
Sae froze. Had he just said that out loud? He was sure he hadn’t. “I didn’t fuck it up at first. I just thought it would be prudent to go with a more conservative approach.”
“Sure,” Kaiser said, his voice suddenly very close to Sae’s ear. He was sure that if he looked up he would be met with Kaiser’s uncanny blue eyes staring back at him. “Why did you go with a conservative approach when you knew that meant the proposal would be shit?”
“God,” Sae groaned. “Shut up. It’s a big project. I don’t want to lose my job. You tell a big company something they don’t like, and you’re out of work for a long, long time. Happy?”
“And what changed your mind?”
Sure enough, as soon as Sae lifted his head he was pinned down with the weight of Kaiser’s stare. “If you’re fishing for compliments, give it a rest.”
Kaiser grinned. “So you admit it was because of me?”
One of Sae’s hands unwound and pushed Kaiser’s stupid, smirking face back. “Shut the fuck up.”
Sae would never say it aloud, but maybe they had made a good team.
Yeah, right. Over his dead fucking body.
--
(D+20 Kaiser Day, Project Proposal D-Day)
“Excellent work, both of you. You two came highly recommended and I can see why.” The director’s voice was tinny over the conference room speakers. Of course Kaiser had booked this whole, massive conference room for just the two of them to video call the director and submit their proposal. It was exactly the type of selfish thing he would do.
“Thank you, sir. I’m glad it’s up to your standards.” Sae said.
The director smiled jovially. “We’re having a company retreat next month. I’d like the two of you to present your proposal there.”
“Certainly,” Kaiser grinned ear to ear. “We would be honored.”
--
(D+21 Kaiser Day, D-23 Presentation Day)
Sae would’ve never rejected the director’s invitation, of course, but Kaiser’s acceptance without his input left a bad taste in his mouth. That was, of course, mostly due to the fact that this little business trip of theirs meant that he and Kaiser had to work together for another month to put together a passable presentation. It needed to be more than passable, really; their presentation needed to convince all the key players in the company beyond a shadow of a doubt that their plan would work. Otherwise it would be doomed to fail from the start.
Sae could already see the sleepless nights ahead of him.
--
(D+32 Kaiser Day, D-12 Presentation Day)
They had been working in a small conference room on one of the upper floors. Sae had to admit, Kaiser had an eye for aesthetics and detail when putting the slide deck together. Sae usually favored simplistic, minimal designs, but Kaiser’s choices weren’t… abhorrent.
“Is there a bathroom around here?”
Ah, but his voice still grated on Sae’s nerves.
“No.” His answer was curt.
“Oh, ok, where?” Stupid man couldn't even see the bathroom sign right outside the conference room door.
“Take the elevator up to the roof, walk up to the balcony, and jump. I’m sure you’ll pee before you hit the pavement.”
“Oooh, scary. How unprofessional,”
“Says you.” Sae eye’d the rose on Kaiser’s neck.
Kaiser smiled. “Now, now, princess. I think you know better than I that performance speaks louder than appearance.”
Was he calling Sae ugly? What a bastard. Sae’s smile in return was venomous. “I’ve yet to see your value in either. Performance or appearance, that is.”
Kaiser’s smile didn’t fall when he left the room.
--
(D+43 Kaiser Day, D-1 Presentation Day)
Their plane arrived shortly before midday. Sae would be lying if he said he didn’t already feel the anxiety building in his stomach. He was the best at what he did, but that didn’t mean he didn’t get nervous.
Kaiser, on the other hand, was still nothing but cocky smiles.
“Lunch?” He asked.
“I’d prefer to settle into my hotel room. We still have quite a bit to prepare before tomorrow.”
“Relax,” He drew out the word, clapping Sae on the back. “Our deck is perfect, we know our lines, tomorrow is going to go great. Don’t worry about it.”
Sae shifted out of his arm’s reach. “Regardless, I’m calling an Uber to our hotel. You’re welcome to dine on your own.”
He made a big show of thinking about Sae’s proposal for a moment, hand on his chin. “Nah, that’s no fun. I’ll head to the hotel too.”
If Sae’s sigh in response was due to disappointment, well, could anyone really blame him?
The conference was being held at a grand hotel in the middle of the city, the exterior all polished glass and clean lines.
“Checking in, Sae Itoshi,” Sae said to the woman at the front desk, sliding his drivers license over to her. Kaiser had insisted on unloading their luggage from the car himself, so Sae had left him behind.
She typed away on her keyboard for a few seconds then looked up at him and smiled. “Welcome, sir,” She handed him two plastic keycards. “Your room is on the 14th floor, room number 6. You’ll find the elevators down that hall and to the right. Please enjoy your stay.” He inclined his head and gave her a tight lipped smile.
“Michael Kaiser,” Sae heard from behind him. Stupid bastard didn’t even wait for him to move, and instead boxed him into the corner formed by the reception desk, blocking the way out with his arm. He talked over him as if Sae wasn’t even there. Typical.
“Move.” He pushed Kaiser’s arm to the side none too gently.
“I’m sorry sir,” The receptionist’s voice cut in. “It doesn’t look like we have anything reserved for you here.”
Sae had to stifle a laugh.
“What?” Kaiser “What do you mean?”
Sae had successfully escaped Kaiser’s arm prison, but now had to figure out how to wrestle his carry-on away without attracting too much attention.
“I’m sorry, but we’re completely booked for tonight. I can suggest a few other hotels in this area?”
“There was a Motel 8 on the way in from the airport, maybe that’s more your speed?” Sae couldn’t help but add.
Kaiser looked at him for a second, then back at the receptionist, then back at him. “You know what, on second thought, it’s fine. I’ll find somewhere.”
The receptionist apologized again, but he dismissed her worry with an easy smile.
“So, princess,” he turned to Sae. “Lead the way.”
Sae’s blood ran cold. “What?”
“Lead the way,” He said again, throwing one arm out in a grand gesture. “I’m taking advantage of your hospitality for today.”
“My hospitality?” Sae spluttered. “There is no hospitality. Go find somewhere else to sleep, bastard.”
“Ah, ah,” Kaiser said. “What if poor little me can’t find anywhere to sleep tonight?”
“Then perish.”
“You don’t mean that,” Kaiser gave an exaggerated pout. “If I die, who will present with you tomorrow?”
“Shut up, you’re not actually going to die,” Sae rolled his eyes and pushed past him, done with this nonsense.
“You don't know that. Plus, even if I do find somewhere else to stay, what’s the guarantee I’ll be able to make it back here in time for our presentation? I know you’ll feel so much better knowing you can keep track of me right here instead.” His words were honey sweet, dripping from his tongue and attracting flies.
But, as much as Sae hated to admit it, he wasn’t wrong. Sae would feel much better if he knew where Kaiser was. He wouldn’t have to worry about the bastard being late, or showing up underdressed, or making a fool out of them in some other way.
“Fine,” He gritted out. “But you’re sleeping on the couch.”
Kaiser grinned. “Naturally.”
--
Sleeping on the couch was much easier said than done, Michael realized as the clock blinked at him. He was bleary eyed, exhausted, and had an awful kink in his neck from the slightly too small couch in Itoshi’s room. The thin blanket covering him provided little respite from the cold. Seriously, what kind of freak turned the air conditioner on high right when he went to bed? Itoshi made a soft noise in his sleep, and the lump under the blankets moved. Michael sighed. Right, that freak.
Truth be told, Michael had been a little surprised how well Itoshi had adjusted to their sharing a room, even if just for the night. He was also more than a little surprised by Itoshi’s choice of sleepwear; a matching satin pajama set with a little Hello Kitty head embroidered on the collar. It was uncharacteristically cute. Also, there had been a part of Michael that had started wondering if Itoshi slept in those pressed white button ups and dress pants he wore to work every day.
Michael usually slept in just a pair of pajama pants, no shirt, but in respect for his temporary roommate he left it on for tonight. And he was glad for the fractionally more coverage it provided, as another wave of cool air from the air conditioner rolled over him. His hands and feet were practically blocks of ice at this point. The conference organizers could probably cut them off and stick them in the ice box next to the wine and the guests would be none the wiser when their chilled drinks were poured.
Michael entertained himself with a mental image of Itoshi opening up the wine fridge in their hotel room and seeing Michael’s hand instead of his favorite red. Preferably, his left hand with the tattoo, and preferably flipping him off. Michael stifled a smile. The princess would probably scream.
Another few minutes passed as the clock ticked ever closer to 2 AM and sleep stayed elusive as ever.
Michael took a deep breath and slowly unfolded himself from his position on the cramped couch. There was no way he was doing that presentation tomorrow on less than four hours of sleep. Into the lion’s den he went.
“Hey, Itoshi,” he whispered, padding across the room to the bed. Silence.
“Hey,” he tried again. He steeled himself and prodded the lump under the blankets with one curious finger. Still no response. Of course the princess would be a deep sleeper.
“Well, excuse me, I guess.” He whispered, as he slipped under the soft, white blankets. “Sorry, it’s way too cold on the couch. You want me to be in my best shape tomorrow, right?”
A soft noise from under the blankets.
“Mmmhm, that’s what I thought.” Michael settled himself under the blankets completely, then sighed. Ah, now he understood why Itoshi set the temperature so low. Michael could practically feel the heat radiating off of him from here.
He closed his eyes, and used the last of his self control to not drift towards Itoshi as he fell asleep.
--
(D+44 Kaiser Day, D-0 Presentation Day)
By the time Sae woke, Kaiser was in the bathroom, his thin white sheet was folded neatly and draped across the couch. Sae felt a bit guilty about his sleeping situation, but not guilty enough to take the couch himself. Kaiser had wanted to share a room instead of finding somewhere else to sleep, he could deal with the consequences.
Sae slowly unwrapped himself from his blanket cocoon and stretched out his arms. He felt surprisingly good, his mind was well rested and his body was energized. Good, he would need it.
“Morning, sleeping beauty,” Kaiser poked his head out from the bathroom, toothbrush in his mouth. “Was wondering when you’d get up.”
Sae made a face. “You’re disgusting. Hurry up and finish so I can shower.”
Kaiser raised his hand in mock salute.
Well pressed suit, high quality cologne, and a touch of makeup; Kaiser cleaned up nice, even Sae had to admit. He had been bracing himself for a fight over formalwear, but thankfully Kaiser had somehow gotten the memo ahead of time.
Except…
“Can you, um,” Kaiser looked over to him from his place in front of the mirror. “Help?” He finished, holding up a limp tie.
Sae’s eyebrows shot so far up they looked like they were running away to join his hairline.
“You’ve never tied a tie before?”
“I mean, I have,” Kaiser looked appropriately admonished. “They just always turn out like shit. For big presentations and stuff I ask other people for help but usually I just don't…”
“I see,” Sae said, pressing his lips together to stifle his smile. “I guess that makes sense.” He held his hand out to take the piece of fabric.
Sae tried to focus on the tie. The tie, the presentation running through his head, even the chores he needed to do when he got home tomorrow. Really, anything but how close he was to Kaiser, and how good Kaiser smelled, and how badly he wanted to reach out and trace that rose tattoo with his pointer finger and -
“Okay, done,” If Sae’s voice came out slightly softer than before, it was just because of his pre-presentation nerves. He observed his handiwork for a minute, and before his better judgment could tell him otherwise, he reached up and smoothed out Kaiser's collar, letting his hands travel down his shirt. “It looks good.”
Kaiser grinned, apparently not at all caught in the same trance Sae had been in. “I think you mean I look good, princess.”
--
The presentation had gone surprisingly well. Or, really, not so surprisingly, considering the amount of effort the two of them had put in over the past month. As soon as he stepped off the stage, Sae knew he had succeeded. Another win under his belt, done and dusted.
“I’m going up to my room,” He whispered to Kaiser after the company dinner event had concluded. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to tell Kaiser of all people. Surely he planned to get a separate hotel room now their event was over.
“Hm?” Kaiser looked at him over the rim of his champagne glass. “So soon?”
“Not my scene. If I needed to network with people like this, I wouldn’t have been up there presenting.”
Kaiser smiled. “Cold as always, princess. At least take a bottle with you,” He said, holding out the half empty bottle of champagne that had ended up on their table.
Sae shrugged, picked up the bottle, and took a swig from it. “Thanks, by the way. And good work.” He turned around and left the room.
--
It hadn’t even been an hour before Sae heard a knock on his hotel room door. He’d showered and changed into his pajamas, and had devolved to alternating between packing his suitcase and taking swigs of champagne directly out of the bottle. He hadn’t been particularly successful at either the packing or the getting drunk.
“Who is it?” He called.
“Me.”
“I don’t know who ‘me’ is,” he grumbled, pulling the door open and seeing Kaiser’s face on the other side.
“Hey,” that ugly grin was fixed on his face as usual. “I brought a peace offering.” He held up a bottle of red wine, nice red by the looks of it.
Sae sighed and moved out of the way.
They ended up sitting on opposite ends of the couch, sipping the wine Kaiser had brought out of the paper coffee cups provided by the hotel.
“It’s a crime drinking it like this.” Sae said, looking mournfully into his cup.
Kaiser scoffed. “I can take it back if it's not good enough for you, princess.”
“No, don’t,” Sae’s hand curled protectively around the neck of the bottle.
“Woah, are you already drunk?” Kaiser grinned. “You’re turning pink.”
Sae scowled at him. Damn Asian flush. “I’m not.”
A shrug. “Just means I gotta catch up.” He tipped his head back and gulped down the remaining liquid in his cup.
Before he knew what he was doing Sae had reached out and grabbed his wrist. “Don’t.”
Kaiser lowered the cup, Sae’s hand still warm around his wrist. “Okay.”
Sae’s hand moved up to touch Kaiser’s loosened tie. He dug two fingers into the knot and worked it loose. “I hate guys like you.” He murmured, almost too softly for Kaiser to hear.
“Yeah, I gathered.” Kaiser said, breath catching lightly in his throat. “You haven’t exactly made your dislike of me a secret.”
“No,” Sae’s hand was still on Kaiser’s collar, the tie now lying limply around his neck. “I don’t hate you. I said I hate guys like you.”
“And what am I like? Enlighten me.”
“Guys who walk around like they own the place. Who look like they get everything handed to them on a silver platter. Guys who are good at everything they try. Guys like you.” Sae hand balled into a fist around Kaiser’s collar. He felt the top button digging into the meat of his palm. “But I just can’t seem to hate you.”
Kaiser reached up to take Sae’s hand, and his fingers loosened easily.
“If it makes you feel any better, I never hated you.”
“It doesn’t,”
Kaiser laughed. “Yeah, I thought so.”
Sae took another sip of his drink. “I have a little brother.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. He’s a soccer player on the Japanese national team. A damn good one too,” Sae looked up at Kaiser. “He’s going to make Japan win the world cup.”
Kaiser smiled. “Is that a challenge? Because I happen to know that Germany’s team is shaping up pretty strong.”
Sae scoffed. “I played soccer too. My brother and I were going to be the best soccer players in the world.”
“And?”
“And nothing. I got just good enough to go abroad and find out how shit I actually was. I quit. I came to the US for undergrad. MBA, consulting, corporate. End of story.”
Kaiser’s hand tightened just slightly around Sae’s. “So you’re bitter? You think if you were like those guys - no, like me - you would still be playing?”
“No.” Sae used his free hand to refill his cup, then took a sip. “Yes. I don’t know.”
“You’re afraid of failure. You’re afraid of failing and losing everything you’ve worked for.” Kaiser said. “That’s why you quit and that’s why you made that cop-out proposal, and that’s why you hate me, isn’t it? You’d rather go out on your own terms than anyone else's.”
Sae’s nails dug into Kaiser’s hand, but Kaiser didn’t flinch.
“And what if I said yes?”
“If you said yes,” Kaiser said, choosing his words carefully. “I would say you have nothing to be afraid of. I know you, Sae. You could fail a million times and still find a way to be better than the rest of us. You haven’t achieved so much despite your failures, but because of them. They made you stronger. It’s okay to give up. Its also okay to not give up, and fail anyway.”
Sae was silent.
“I played soccer in Germany. Would’ve gone pro, but I tore my ACL real bad. If I kept playing and got another injury, there was a chance I would never walk again. I decided I didn’t like soccer enough for that trade off. It was the reason I started college two years after everyone else.”
“Ah, so even wonderboy has a tragic backstory.” Sae’s thumb started stroking the back of Kaiser’s hand, grip much more gentle than before. Kaiser tried not to shiver at the sensation. There was another beat of silence between them, perhaps because both of them were grasping at something to say, or perhaps out of commiseration for a shared abandoned dream.
“You proud of him?” He asked. “Your brother?”
“More than anyone else in the world.” Sae spoke with a firmness that left no room for interpretation.
“I think he would be proud of you too. Otherwise he’d be the dumbest guy I know.”
They talked and they drank until deep into the night, until Sae knew with certainty he was going to regret it the next morning when he tried to haul his ass out in time for the 10 AM check out. But Sae didn’t want to stop. He had never really talked to Kaiser, no, Michael, before like this. It was new. It felt good. It wasn’t until Sae felt himself fighting his own eyelids to keep them from closing did he finally accept it might be time for sleep.
“You should ask at the front if they have any rooms open tonight,” Sae murmured, his eyes half lidded. “So you don’t have to sleep on the couch again.”
Kaiser made a noise of acknowledgement, but didn’t move. Sae swayed forward, closing the gap between them almost unconsciously. He was asleep before his head touched Kaiser’s shoulder.
--
Sae had leaned forward, his eyes practically shut, rosy blush high on his cheeks, and Michael had thought that this would finally be the moment, after a month and a half of waiting. Michael was wrong, as usual, as Sae’s lips missed him entirely, and his head instead fell softly on Michael’s shoulder. His breathing had evened out within minutes.
Michael sighed, and brought his free hand up to stroke Sae’s soft auburn hair. After waiting a few minutes to make sure Sae wouldn’t wake, he disentangled their joined hands and picked Sae up bridal-style to carry him to the bed.
“Goodnight, princess. I hope you don’t mind if I intrude again.”