Work Text:
“It’s a mess.” Is mostly what Kunikida would describe the current events right now, at least that’s what Poe would think. Neon lights spiralling throughout the crowd where pleasure and ignorance mix in to create an intoxicating atmosphere. The smell of Alcohol reeks throughout the tough crowd of people.
Poe looks through the said crowd, a Punch in his hand that Lucy made him Hold, he started eyeing different people just to distract himself. Atsushi is currently trying to calm himself down while Gin is next to him, seeing Gin’s involvement in this it is safe to assume that her Brother is somewhat an integral part of the boy’s situation. Lucy is another competition with Mark, this time something related to ping pong after he distinctly hears Margaret mutter something about ping pong balls and a table. Dazai and Chuuya are at it again with another fight, though he may not personally know the two, their sort of…situationship? Became a talk through the campus, so much so that one of the heads, have to deal with it.
While the catastrophe of his whole college unravels at a single night, Poe for the most part of it currently, is standing alone in the background.
It’s a well known fact that he has always been a lurker of some kind, always the observer. After all that’s what he does in his passion for writing. It’s an underwhelming feeling of putting yourself and predicting what the other’s view is in a situation. Though Poe may not brag about it, he believes he has mastered that skill effortlessly by time.
As he skims his way through the party and drinking a few booze, he always seems to divert himself by the thought of green eyes and a teasing smirk. His rational side blames the alcohol—more specifically the booze he had earlier, he stopped himself by the third cup and is now in a in between state of being drunk but also being conscious about everything.—, but the opposing side of his every being begs to differ.
Erasing the thought as quickly as Louisa finishes her studies, he starts to wonder where his Rival may be. Poe thought the situation itself was laughable. Between the two of them, It was Ranpo who always seemed to be eager to hang out with his friends on an occasion like this, while Poe could see himself as the complete opposite where he stays in his own solitude reading with Karl. Though here he is now, fully dressed in an outfit he once couldn’t think he’ll even Show outside his closet, only being there for the purpose of thinking he’ll probably look good in it.
(Poe has his times okay? Sure, his impulsive buying have been noted by almost every friend he has, however to counter the argument, this issue it’s not really much a problem to him and his bank account…well..hopefully)
Even with the loud blasting music in the party, Poe stops when could hear the familiar footsteps of Ranpo. How he understood how light the sound may be blurs the lines of the pseudo friendly-slash-rivalry relationship they have.
He couldn’t be that ignorant to hide the fact that each step follows the rhythm of his heart.
So the party is going bad, practically because he’s still too sober to think about something like that.
—
Ranpo had definitely underestimated everything that leads him to this point, and more importantly, his tolerance to alcohol.
It all starts when he’s drinking the cup Atsushi gave him, promising him that it’s most likely sweet, and the texture is more akin to a shake than a drink, so he casually took a few sips or two.
It was when Yosano came back after a suspiciously long bathroom break when Ranpo felt...unusual to his normal self. He could’ve easily guessed why Yosano was out for a solid thirty minutes to a supposedly “bathroom break”, he could easily predict that through intuition enough, but now he couldn’t think about the lines in between. It only took him a little later to notice her unkempt hair and slightly smudged lipstick.
His eyes start to get heavier, and he feels his stomach and face heating up, and for the first time, Ranpo is unsure what’s happening.
Though with the way Yosano's eyes widen, he surely knows she does.
Ranpo has to readjust himself to realise that Yosano is talking to him. “-npo? Ranpo.” she holds his shoulders, “I thought you have a low tolerance to these kinds of things?”
crap.
This is bad, practically because he’s now too drunk to comprehend everything but a fluff of purple hair who just passed by.
—
Poe wished to have his emotional support raccoon in here, though he also knows Karl hated loud noises as much as he hated crowds. Everyone moved at their own pace, chattering and dancing, running and chasing, while Poe stood there, slow eyes wondering the never ending motion he seemed to be stuck in.
Then, Ranpo grabs him and guides him away, and for a moment, the world seems to be right.
They passed through almost everyone they knew. Dazai and Chuuya finally stopped bickering and now look more relaxed together, Dazai telling something while Chuuya only stares in Awe.
Mark, eyes wide, looks shocked and almost horrified (the latter reaction being more debatable if Poe is not that distracted.) when he locks eyes with Poe for a split second. This seems to give Lucy enough time while he’s distracted, to win the ping pong game. Everyone’s voices Cheered on her, emitting more sound that made Poe slightly twitch.
Once they reached the balcony, Poe could notice that other than him and Ranpo, the only person in it was a redhead with a cigar in his hand. All three locked eyes for a moment before the guy was called by a man with glasses. Ranpo gave him a glare and he only nodded, going back to the curtains and presumably, the one with glasses too.
it’s cliche, it’s outdated, it’s silly, it’s childish, but it’s totally intoxicating, it’s also special, and dear sweet mother Mary, Poe didn’t know he wanted this badly.
Ranpo only holds him tighter. “You said you hated crowds.” He furrowed his eyebrows and looked at him with closed eyes. This is when Poe could now actually see his puffed out red cheeks, and his unfocused look. He stared at him for a good while before Ranpo had to squeeze Poe's hand to bring Poe back to him, Poe partially blamed the alcohol again for his mind blanking out.
Poe answered, just to keep up with the conversation “..I do remember telling you that, but I'm pretty sure I can handle this much.”
Ranpo leans in more towards Poe’s face, the slow and loud rhythm of his heartbeat is now being mixed with the crisis he’s having, it took the slowest minute of silence before Ranpo talks pretty much out of nowhere.
“Poe-kun, I am really drunk right now and my head is all over the place.” Poe just noticed that Ranpo is now holding both of his hands “but first, tell me that you’re not a hallucination and this is not something that I have made up again?..please?”
Poe tilted his head a bit, “you’re…not?”
Ranpo puffs his cheeks more and forms the cutest pout Poe has ever seen. “Still something a hallucination would say. You're not that convincing, you do know that right?”
Poe couldn’t help but burst in laughter, Just what does he think right now? Poe fully blame the alcohol for this, and when he looks back at Ranpo, he saw how his eyes softened, how he looks with a distinct awe to him, then silence. Poe stood still, frozen in either way, seconds pass by, the only thing indicating it is the muffled sound of party music that switches different genres.
“If you want to touch, you can just touch me.”
Poe, ever secretly being the hopeless romantic, reaches out to hold Ranpo’s warm face.
Ranpo looks at him sluggishly but still melts at his touch, which earns another cute laugh from Poe, but this one is more soft, more mellow. Ranpo lazily opens his eyes only to look more at Poe, seemingly shaping every form of it into his memory. Poe knew, he is Ranpo’s rival after all, as much as Ranpo could read Poe, Poe somewhat likes to believe the same too vise versa.
The Music shifts into a more instrumental music, more of an ambiance than music really. Poe decides to rest his forehead to Ranpo’s, letting him see his eyes past his bangs. Poe could see himself in Ranpo’s eyes, his smile pretty much contagious. Poe couldn’t help but slowly lean in, and soon catching that very same smile.
“This is very much real, my dear.”
—
Ranpo wakes up in the softest bed he could ever dream to have. The blanket’s weight itself is a little heavy, much like Ranpo’s own blankets.
The clear distinction however is the smell of ink and applewood, Ranpo knew he was not in his bedroom at all.
He tried to open his eyes, though still a little drowsy, and what’s with that pain in his head? Also is that someone…grumbling?
The sound of intense muttering is the only thing Ranpo could hear except for the ambiance of the room, he squinted his eyes to focus his Vision and See a tall figure with Purple hair, hunched up and muttering something in English that Ranpo still couldn’t understand yet.
…Poe?
His mind rewired on its own, gears somehow worked even with the intense headache, with his newfound adrenaline flowing, he silently notes down to buy medicine for the headache after all of this.
Upon trying to get up, Ranpo could kind of see Poe in his demise. Ranpo is trying to piece together the things he could’ve done while being influenced by the alcohol, and to obviously conclude that something may happen.
He calls out his name “Poe…?”
The taller one let out a shaky exhale, looking at him. “Ran..po?”
Ranpo tried to even out Poe’s breath. He reached out his hand, giving Poe the choice to take it or not. “That’s my name.”
Poe slowly interviewed his fingers to ranpo, both of their nerves acting up, sensing a foreign but welcoming heat. Ranpo could also see Poe calm down for a bit. Ranpo asked quietly, it would’ve been lost to the wind if not for Poe to hear it. “What do you need?”
Poe was quick to Talk “I…I don’t know, maybe..maybe, a Hug?”
And Ranpo was quick enough to give him that.
Ranpo has to straighten up a bit to initiate the hug while Poe who was sitting in a lotus Position, have to adjust to fully face and Hold Ranpo.
There’s something…oddly comforting about this whole thing, so much so that Ranpo still tries to even out his breath, not just only to help Poe follow his breathing, but also due to the Mixed feelings in him. His stomach felt a new kind of hunger, for something sweet and heavy, a taste akin to a sweet wine he could intoxicate himself in.
He could still hear Poe breathing, quite unsteady, and just that for a while, he let him be for a good minute before he spoke. His voice is now raspy, much similar to Poe’s usual morning voice, Ranpo takes it as a sign of him calming down. It being next to his ear though, Ranpo somewhat felt his heart skip a beat.
“..You smell good..”
Ranpo huffs out a chuckle, and leaning into Poe even more. “I smelled like alcohol.”
Poe hummed, though it also sounded like a low growl. “Yes but Ranpo smells like Ranpo too..”
To avoid any indecent thoughts——like how he sounded really needy for a second that Ranpo is glad that he’s sitting right now as he feels his legs weaken or how his hands are in his waist right now——Ranpo Laughs at the comment.
And they remained silent, usually promises would be made at a time like this, but Ranpo knows, Poe knows, both of them know better. Both are fools in the name of Love and war.
Ranpo could feel Poe’s hearbeat “…Tell me about last night.” Poe noticed how Ranpo breathes more heavily now. “..please?”
Now Poe couldn’t help but chuckle, a first in this morning. He leans into Ranpo’s Shoulders. “Nothing much…You just became really talkative while drunk. When you’re out of things to say..” he laughs softly “you were attached to me for the whole time, and…” a pause. Ranpo looks up, a mixture of his morning daze, confusion, and now a forming headache is quite telling by his face. The shorter may not see it but he knows the other’s gaze turned away from him.
Then as if to confirm, Ranpo could feel his rapid heartbeat.
“Hm…What got you so flustered?” Ranpo questioned, the slight tease in his voice didn’t pass Poe. “Did we have sex?”
Poe scrambles his words, he lets go of the hug to look at Ranpo, “I- wha- No, of course not! I wouldn’t-” he blabbers on with more messy words, some in Japanese and most are in English, for a man who writes a lot Poe could be the complete opposite whenever he’s with Ranpo. And maybe that specific realisation and Poe’s overall reaction did put Ranpo in a blissful trance enough to make him forget about his headache for a while.
Ranpo laughs which seems to cut Poe off, and it is as if he couldn’t get enough, he buries himself again through Poe’s chest, bringing him back to that woody smell. He could feel his face heat up.
He doesn’t have to say anything, Poe knows, and he knows Poe knows, and maybe that’s enough for now.