Work Text:
It was very rare that the group of adult sorcerers were all off work at the same time. It started when Ino suggested going out for dinner with Nanami within Gojo’s hearing range. The tall man perked up and decided to gather anyone he could to make it a party. Honestly, he just wanted to annoy his longtime friend. Most refused him, but he was able to get a handful of people to agree. Ijichi refused; however, he was forcefully dragged away from his desk, his nails leaving marks behind in the wood as he struggled.
Within the next hour, they had rented out a small room at a bar, the table filled with drinks and food, while a few of the group talked mostly about work. Gojo, Ino, and Kusakabe sat on one side of the table. Shoko, Nanami, and Ijichi, on the other hand. Over the course of the night, jackets were taken off, and shirt sleeves rolled up. Gojo was the first to drop. He was never a big drinker. The group was glad that, within the first hour, he suddenly became silent, sitting upright with his arms crossed. His glasses covered closed eyes, giving the illusion he was still awake.
Ijichi was the next to drop out of the conversation after a few drinks. They let him slump against the table, left cheek pressed down hard on the surface. Nanami reached over to take off the drunk manager's glasses to avoid them from getting snapped. Placing them next to Ijichi’s head, he started to plan how they were going to get him home.
Ino was a big talker, so he carried most of the mood. He kept pressing Kusakabe for information about what kind of jobs he’s been on. The younger man loved to learn, and it wasn’t often he had someone around willing to answer his questions. Shoko added details whenever needed, keeping her drinks at a steady pace. She was the most sober out of all of them when the incident happened.
She carefully looked over the group, aware of something the others weren’t. A smile she only knew the meaning behind formed on her face as she waited. She wasn’t entirely certain what would happen next, but she knew it would be something people would talk about for ages.
Slowly, Ijichi raised his head, his hand feeling around for his glasses. Face flushed and eyes red. Nanami silently picked them up and helped his friend place them on his face. Slumping back into the seat, Ijichi’s eyes went over his friend group and let out a long enough sigh that caught Ino’s attention.
“Do you want another drink?” Ino offered to raise a bottle.
Nanami placed a hand over Ijichi’s cup and gave Ino a stern enough look to make him take back the offer. The dark-haired man shook his head, his expression so crestfallen it looked like he was about to cry.
“It’s not fair...” he muttered to himself, unaware others were listening.
“Oh? What’s bothering you?” Ino perked up a smile on his innocent face.
Kusakabe gave his foot a sharp kick. Ino didn’t know Drunk Ijichi well enough to deal with him. The man often got worked up and depressed with enough booze in him. It really dragged down the entire mood when it happened.
“Everyone turned out to be such talented sorcerers. I thought I could handle that. I mean, it’s amazing that we have such strength on our side to save so many people. I assumed I could just do my best to support all of you... Then every single one of you had the nerve to do the unforgivable.” Ijichi ranted on, angry tears threatening to overflow at any moment.
Kusakabe rolled his eyes and took a drink from his glass. He's heard these words before. Almost everyone at the table had.
“Wait, what have we done?” Ino asked, actually concerned.
“You all turned out to be so damn attractive! Why do you get talents AND looks?!” Ijichi said as he buried his face in his hands for a few seconds.
Ino first glanced at the sleeping Gojo, understanding how anyone could be jealous of that man. He had almost everything. Money, power, a great face. But Ijichi was talking about everyone at the table.
“You think we’re all hot?” Ino couldn’t help himself.
He never really thought of himself in that way. He assumed his face was average at best. In fact, he was most comfortable when it was hidden.
“Look at all of you! And look at me! Why couldn’t I just get one good feature? I would be fine with just one, but nooo. Everything about me is ugly.”
Ino sputtered out a comment, trying to argue that, but Ijichi wasn’t having it. Kusakabe placed a hand on his shoulder to signal him out to give up and just let the man get it out of his system before the booze took him out again.
“I can’t gain weight. My nose is awful. I can’t style my hair and, ugh. My forehead is massive. Just terrible.”
Unable to help himself, Ino let a comment slip.
“You know what they say about guys with big foreheads.” He joked and got a sharp slap upside the head, causing him to nearly spill the drink in his hand.
“Oh no, what do they say about large foreheads?” Ijichi shot back in a sarcastic tone with his arms crossed.
Before anyone else could answer back, a voice almost no one expected cut through the conversation.
“They’re cute.”
Everyone froze, including Shoko. Eyes wide, staring at Nanami’s blank expression. The doctor beside him grinned as she started to finish off the last pieces of food on the dishes still on the table. She knew when Nanami was drunk. And he was completely wasted.
She’s seen him this far gone once before. It was very entertaining. Everyone’s reactions were almost as good as watching what he would do next.
“Come again...?” Ijichi asked, sobering up for a second.
He knew he was drunk, but didn’t think he would ever consume enough to hear those words from the man beside him.
“Large foreheads are cute,” Nanami said once more, eyes forward and sounding like he was sternly stating a well-known fact.
“I mean... I suppose some are. But mine surely isn’t-” Ijichi started again, then stiffened when a set of eyes landed on his face.
He could do nothing but watch as a large hand reached over to part his hair away, showing off even more of the forehead he hated so much. What happened next nearly made him pass out as his heart practically stopped in his chest. Gracefully, Nanami leaned over to kiss the middle of the exposed area without an ounce of awareness that others were watching.
Ino also froze, a glass of beer halfway to his lips. His grip tightened to the point he snapped the handle, the half-filled glass falling to the table, spilling the rest of his drink in his lap. Even then, he didn’t move. His brain shut down at what he saw.
Shoko grinned, hiding a small laugh behind her hand. Going out that night was totally worth it.
“Ok, that’s it. We’re calling it a night. You’re all too drunk.” Kusakabe sat up and moved to the other side of the table to take hold of Ijichi’s arm.
He carefully lifted the stunned man to his feet. Nanami barely reacted. His face had the same kind of still expression he always wore, only now with a tint of pink at the tips of his ears.
“It’s still early. We should order more food.” He protested.
“Nope. We’re done. Ino, grab him. I got this one. Shoko, steal Gojo’s card and pay for this,” Kusakabe ordered, getting the small group into motion.
Ino did as he was told, pants still wet from the spill, but he didn’t care. Ijichi said nothing, his face a bright red in disbelief, while his co-worker gathered their jackets to get him back home safely.
Ino didn’t dare talk about what he’d just seen when he and Nanami took a cab together. They kept needing to make stops because the older man wanted fast food. He wasn’t overly demanding. So Ino caved in his requests. He's always known Nanami was a big eater, but after the fourth stop, he wondered where it was all going. Finally, they got him back to his apartment. Ino trusted the man was aware enough to get upstairs on his own. He was right. Even while wasted, Nanami was in control enough to unlock his door and get into bed without help.
He set an alarm for the normal time, well aware he had work in the morning. He quickly fell into a deep sleep and nearly slept through the beeping noise trying to wake him.
His eyes opened, and his hand came down hard on the clock, silencing it. Not once in his life had he ever been blacked out drunk. That morning, he wished he had. Every single detail replayed in his mind, causing him to rub his hands over his face. There was a chance Ijichi was too out of it to remember, but the rest of them weren’t.
He knew Ino would be good enough not to speak of what happened. But the others? Not so much.
Sitting up, he mentally prepared for a rough day. Before work, he needed to drop by a shop and pick up an apology gift for the co-worker he had embarrassed. What does a person even get in this kind of situation?
Ijichi arrived early at the office like always. His head hurt, and his eyes could barely stay open. Still, he typed away at the mountain of reports he had left unfinished to go drinking the night before. Every so often, he stopped, shook his head, then carried on. No matter how hard he tried to distract himself, a memory flashed back into his head, causing him to want to roll on the ground, screaming.
He hoped that Nanami was so wasted that night, he wouldn’t remember anything. He heard the office door open, then sensed someone standing next to him. Looking up, he saw the person he had been trying to forget all morning stiffly holding out a small, wrapped box.
With a slight bow and unable to make eye contact even behind his glasses, he spoke.
“I'm sorry for... getting carried away.”
Damn it. He did remember.
Ijichi wanted to die. He accepted the box and placed it on his desk. Shaking hands, refusing to let him open it. He placed them firmly folded in his lap, trying to hide the trembling.
“You didn’t have to go out of your way. I sort of brought it all on myself last night. And... Well, we were drinking a lot. So, it’s alright. I don’t blame you. You were drunk, and it won’t happen again. I mean, you would never say such a thing sober, right? We can just forget any of this happened.” Ijichi rattled on, then forced himself to shut his mouth before he just kept ranting.
A frown appeared on Nanami’s face. Was he angry? Ijichi strived to never be on the other end of that kind of expression. An angry Nanami scared him more than anyone else. His rage felt so personal that he couldn’t help but want to cry any time it happened.
“You don’t think I meant what I said?” Nanami asked in a tone cold.
“Pardon?” Ijichi squeaked out.
Wasn’t he here to apologize for his actions?
“Well, no, of course not,” Ijichi added, hands raised as if trying to defend himself.
He shrank back into his chair as the taller man got closer. Leaning down, he assumed he was in for a verbal assault. Instead, a thumb was placed under his chin to lift it, so Nanami could gently place his lips where they had been the night before.
“I wasn’t lying. You’re cute,” he spoke in a voice low to keep the words between them.
He hadn’t pulled away. Head swimming, Ijichi tried to find any signs to see if his co-worker was still drunk. No, he smelled freshly showered and was put together.
His throat caught as hot tears formed. He hated how easily he could cry nowadays.
“Not even Gojo would go this far to be cruel. If I’ve done something wrong-” Ijichi started, only to have his face carefully lifted a little more.
“I’m not letting you deny my feelings. I will accept it if you feel disgusted or don’t hold the same kind of affection. However, I will not let you run away from this believing you’re not worth these words due to a lack of confidence.” Nanami spoke sternly with enough gentleness not to scare Ijichi away.
His mouth became dry, making it impossible to form any words to reply. Their faces were so damn close. Ijichi could pull away if he wanted. Nothing was forcing him to stay aside from his own nerves. Feeling he had buried so, so deeply over the years seeped through cracks that started to form in his defenses.
“I’m just... me....” He finally said.
Nanami nearly didn’t hear the meek protest.
“Good, because I like you.”
Such a bold confession broke any kind of restraint between them. Ijichi’s eyes closed tightly when he felt a thumb caressing the side of his face. Nanami wanted to feel that soft skin and sharp features for so long. He knew there were reasons why he hadn’t. In that moment, every single one was forgotten. He leaned closer, waiting for Ijichi to say something or move away in case he read any signals the wrong way. When he was positive, he had full silent permission, and he placed a palm on a blushing cheek, nearly covering the entire thing with his hand. His fingertips brushed aside dark hair as his lips fell on a pair of waiting ones. The action was awkward at first since neither of them had much experience in such things. His hands shaking, Ijichi reached up to take hold of the light-colored suit to bring the other man closer, making their lips press together harder. Nanami drew away only to bring his face back down for another kiss. He found he greatly enjoyed kissing a waiting partner over and over again. He only fully pulled away when he realized Ijichi wasn’t breathing properly.
With a gasp of air, he opened his dazed eyes, his face almost completely red. His partner let him recover, no matter how much he wanted to keep going.
“Sorry I...” Ijichi stammered.
For a heart-dropping moment, Nanami thought he was going to be rejected after all that.
“I didn’t hear the last thing you said. Or... was paying attention to what you just did. Could you... Do that all again one more time?” He knew he was asking a lot, making Nanami say something a bit embarrassing a second time.
He still wanted to hear it.
“I like you.” The words were soft, spoken through a small smile.
They drew together again. This time, Ijichi bravely wrapped his arms around a set of broad shoulders. He hadn’t gotten up from his chair. He found such a tall man bending over to kiss him far more romantic than expected. Hands fell around his waist, causing him to let out a sound he didn’t recognize as his own voice. Thinking something was wrong, or he had hurt Ijichi in some way, Nanami raised his head to stop, then was pulled back.
“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention again. Maybe just one more time...” Ijichi said slyly, wondering where all this courage suddenly came from.
“Being a little greedy, are we? Alright. Maybe just once more...”
This time, an open mouth fell onto his. Just as they were about to go further, a sound came from the other side of the room as the door opened. They had forgotten where they were. Sure, it was early, but that didn’t mean no one could be in the office at that time.
“Hey, Ijichi, how are you feeling-” Ino’s voice filled the room, his hands full of items as he used his back to push open the door.
His eyes landed on the scene in front of him. The delay of turning around gave them enough time to pull away, yet it was very, very clear what he just walked in on. Ijichis’ flashed face. Wet lips and strong hands hovering above his waist. Nanami’s eyes were hidden behind his glasses, and yet Ino felt daggers being stared in his direction.
“Ima a leave these boxes here,” Ino said and carefully set down the reports he had been asked to carry over by the door.
Without raising his eyes, he closed the office door, locking it behind him.
Mortified, Ijichi pressed his face into his hands, wondering just how quickly all of this would get out. Could he even do any damage control at this point? Standing up, he reached for his jacket, unaware of what he was going to do. Beg Ino not to talk to anyone about this? Nanami's hand took his wrist, stopping him from stepping away.
“He locked the door.” He pointed out.
Ijichi’s brain moved slowly, trying to figure out what was being implied.
“How much do you trust Ino?” He asked, his heart starting to race again.
“With my life.”
That was good enough for him. Within seconds, he had been lifted off his feet and then placed on the desk, papers falling to the floor. With their faces now level, they kept going where they left off before the rude interruption. Both were aware they couldn’t take things all the way in the office. However, they did want to see just how far they could go.
Meanwhile, Ino was doing a new job, ensuring no one made the same mistake he did. Nanami was right last night. Big foreheads were cute. They weren’t Ino’s thing, but he was now on duty to make sure his role model had all the time he wanted spending it with one of the cutest forehead holder in the world.