Chapter Text
When Daichi opens the door, he looks surprised to see Asahi.
“You made it to movie night on time,” he observes. “I thought you said you’d be late.”
“Yeah…my date ended way more quickly than I thought it would,” Asahi says. He takes off his coat and hangs it on the hook behind the door next to Daichi’s and Suga’s.
“Sounds like there’s a story there,” Suga says from the entrance to the living room. “Spill!”
Asahi groans, passing him to flop face-first on the couch. Suga sits by his head and pokes him repeatedly. Asahi reaches up without looking and grabs his hand. “Suga, let me suffer in peace. God, maybe I should just stop dating.”
Daichi snorts. “Come on. It can’t have been that bad. Isn’t he your coworker’s friend?” He prods Asahi on the back. “Move over.”
Asahi sits up with a sigh, making space for Daichi to plop between him and Suga. Daichi leans back against Suga’s chest, and Suga’s hand immediately goes to play with his hair. Asahi’s chest warms at the sight of them, even as something distant and yearning aches in his stomach.
“Well, it started out okay,” Asahi says. “He was, you know, attractive. He seemed really interested in what I had to say, especially when I talked about work. Except then, he seemed to only want to talk about my work. I tried asking him questions about himself but all he would say was that he wanted to get to know me. I tried talking about my travels with Noya and he was polite, but I could tell he wasn’t really listening, until I told him about how inspiring they’d been for my designs.”
“Oh, I see where this is going,” Suga says sympathetically, though his eyes are mirthful.
“Well, I didn’t!” Asahi feels a headache blooming at his temples. He pulls off his hairtie and shakes his hair loose, closing his eyes and blowing out a breath as some of the strain at his hairline eases. Daichi mutters something under his breath, and Asahi looks at him. “What?”
“Nothing,” Daichi says quickly. He looks oddly flustered, and Suga’s thoughtful hum does nothing to clear up Asahi’s confusion.
“Okay…well, anyway, halfway into this date, he asked if I had any interesting projects coming up, and I started telling him about the photoshoot I’m helping coordinate—you know, the one with Vogue Japan.”
“The one we’ve had to steal you away from for weeks now so you don’t run yourself into the ground overworking?” Suga says. Daichi nods. He seems to have recovered from whatever it was happened earlier, and he’s back to being attentively eager. “Yeah, we’re familiar with it.’
Asahi rolls his eyes at them. “Yes, that one. So then , this man pulls out his portfolio! And he says that he’s been interested in getting into fashion design and asks if I’d look over it and consider him for work. And I don’t want to be rude, so I open it.” Asahi pinches the bridge of his nose. “I am not joking when I say that one of Suga’s kindergarteners could draw better than him. Actually, that art on your fridge is at least five times better than what I saw.”
Suga beams. “I knew Inoue-kun was a prodigy. I need to tell his mother that next time I see her.”
“Please tell me you said that to him,” Daichi says to Asahi, grinning.
Asahi wilts. “No. I told him they were great and that I’d consider him if anything came up.”
They burst into laughter, and Asahi hides his face in his hands, laughing along.
“Asahi, you need to be firmer with people,” Daichi wheezes.
Asahi pushes at his shoulder. “At least I’m better than I was in high school!”
“Is that saying much though?” Suga muses. Asahi mock-scowls and throws a pillow at him.
“Well, at least you have us,” Daichi says, clapping Asahi on the shoulder. “Movie night will fix everything, don’t worry. Come on, let’s get set up.”
In the darkness of the room, only the light from the TV illuminating the space, Asahi relaxes completely, letting go of the frissons of anxiety that he’s been carrying with him since that disaster of a date ended. There’s nowhere in the world more comforting and safe than his best friends’ apartment, and he slumps back into the couch, closing his eyes for just a moment. Before he knows it, he’s leaning heavily against Daichi’s side, struggling to keep his eyes open.
Suga huffs a gentle laugh. “You’re going to fall asleep, aren’t you?”
“No,” Asahi murmurs, but the word comes out garbled. He doesn’t hear what Suga’s response is before he falls asleep, his head pillowed warmly against Daichi’s shoulder.
He only wakes up once when Daichi shifts out from under him and catches his shoulders to guide him to lie down on the sofa. He wraps a blanket around Asahi and sets a pillow under his head.
“Sorry, it’s so late—I should go,” Asahi slurs, but Suga shushes him, carding gentle fingers through his hair.
“It’s okay,” Daichi says gently, catching his hand. “You can stay over. Just sleep.”
Asahi is too tired and cozy to argue. He sighs at the comfort of his friends’ hands on him. As he closes his eyes again, one of them says something quiet, and he feels two presses of warmth to his forehead. If he didn’t know better, he would identify them as kisses.
There’s no way , he thinks to himself with the last bits of his consciousness, and he finally drifts off, safe and warm.