Work Text:
"Hiori?" the soft tone of his beloved's voice calls, "Where is my phone?"
Broken. Is what he should've said. Is what he would have said if he didn't need to tread so carefully. Instead, he tilts his head slightly—just enough that Ranze knew he was paying attention but not far enough for the younger to see his face—and responds, "You must've left it upstairs, you can use mine."
Ranze is frowning. Hiori doesn't need to be able to see him to know that. The cute little frown he does when he knows something is wrong, but he can't quite place what. The one Hiori pictured every time he ran through his plan for today. The day to end all the pining and usher them into a new age together. The day he's been planning for years. The beginning of forever.
He'll need to placate him soon. Panic—no matter how good it looks in those pink eyes—will throw everything into jeopardy. Ranze is strong. Strong, smart and perceptive. All the features Hiori loves in him, yes, but features that could render all his work worthless. His love is a slippery thing, after all. There was no guarantee Hiori could keep him in his grasp, at least not like this.
Not for now.
"What do you need it for?" he asks, even though he could recite Ranze's answer before it left those perfect lips.
"To tell Yuu to pick me up, up."
Yukimiya Kenyuu. The bane of Hiori's existence.
Yukimiya Kenyuu, who has his fingers in every pie. Including the pie that was Hiori's.
Yukimiya Kenyuu, who's too important to kill because he's Ranze's best friend. Will be one of Tabito's closest confidants if Hiori has to resort to disappearing. A parasite who has leached onto everything important to Hiori and is so damn hard to lie to. Even with the distraction of Isagi, Yukimiya always manages to be omnipresent. Always checking in, tagging along, and sabotaging every chance he got.
Not today. No, today will be perfect.
He sets his controller on the table in front of him so he can start fiddling with his phone. Scrolling through his contacts for the number that won't pick up. The number belonged to the phone he smashed when Ranze was setting up the switch. A number conveniently saved under 'Yukimiya' as he's long-since replaced Ranze's number with the one on the new, safe phone hiding in his wardrobe. Ready for when his soon-to-be-lover settles.
He doesn't look up, not yet.
The call rings dead.
He can't help but smile.
"Looks like he's busy."
Now.
He schools his expression into a sheepish one, but just as expected, Ranze sees right through it.
"You just want me to stay, stay."
"A little." Those perfect lips twitch just so, only so long until Ranze is too amused to be worried. Hiori presses his phone into the other's hands. "You call him," he offers, not even trying to hide his pleasure when the call rings dead. There's no point. Ranze can read him like a book. Nor does he try to hide his laugh at the way his friend's—almost lover's—nose scrunches at his lewd explanation for why Yukimiya isn't responding.
"Ew, ew," Ranze all but whines, quickly changing the subject at the mere implication of Yukki getting laid. "What do you wanna do?" Isn't that a question?
"Anything you want, we have all the time in the world."
His angel blinks at him, confused, unaware and unbearably cute. Ranze knows Hiori nearly as well as Hiori knows him, after all. He's well aware how rare it is for him to 'exaggerate' like that. How odd this must be to him, not knowing just how earnestly Hiori means those words.
"I'm working tomorrow," is what he asks, adorably perplexed. Perhaps confused how the ever observant Hiori could forget such a simple fact of his schedule.
Hiori's smile doesn't falter.
"We have until you fall asleep."
"Hot chocolate?"
"No." He almost winces at how harsh he sounds. Ranze can't go upstairs. Not now, nor at all until he settles. Hiori… Hiori can't let him realise that. Not yet, at least. His sudden coldness is much easier to explain than multiple locked doors. "I'm fine, thank you," he adds, quieter, softer. Even though the scepticism on his darling's face tells him that his efforts are in vain.
Before Ranze can even think to speak, to force his hand, Hiori wraps an arm around his waist and pulls him snug against his side. It's a desperate play, yes, but it's the only thing he knows for a fact will make Ranze's mind blank. As expected, his dearest flushes a brilliant pink, suspicious frown long gone. Hiori rubs small circles into the younger man's hip until he relaxes into the touch.
"You cold?" The excuse sounds flimsy even to him, but it doesn't need to be good. Inadvertently admitting to wanting to touch his dearly beloved is more than enough of a distraction. "I can grab us some blankets," he pulls Ranze closer, so he's lying fully on his chest. Just so he can have a better view. "Or we could go to bed." Perhaps he is indulging himself, just a little. After all, he's wanted to do this for years.
Ranze goes from soft pink to a deep red, "No, I—" he clears his throat and averts his gaze, "I'll sleep here."
"You shouldn't, it's bad for your back."
"I can't take over your bed, bed."
"I don't mind," he murmurs, testing his luck by rubbing soothing touches up and down his dearest's side, "It's just sleeping, we won't do anything nefarious." He means it. He will never do anything that Ranze doesn't want or need. He has plenty of other ways to make the other man sleep in if sex isn't on the table.
"Don't put it like that."
"Just sleep, no wayward touches," the irony of saying this with his palm on his 'friend's' waist doesn't escape him. Nor Ranze from the way his gaze flickers down to the still unfamiliar touch. "And you'll be nice and snug, how does that sound?" At that, his angel concedes.
"Later, later."
"Let me grab my laptop, and we'll watch a movie." When he pulls away, it takes every fibre of his being not to press a kiss against Ranze's head. Once he returns, that frown has returned to the other's face, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Ranze tilts his head, and Hiori almost flinches at the probing look in his eyes, "You?"
This is close, too close. "Why'd you ask?" Ranze simply shrugs in response, but when Hiori sits down again, it's obvious he won't relax until he gets an answer. He focuses on the screen when he says, "It's fine."
"I want to help." Hiori can hear the frown in Ranze's tone.
"It's stupid."
"I don't care."
He opens his laptop. "Don't worry about it."
Ranze's frown deepens, but he lets up. "You can't distract me with a movie," he complains, shifting closer to get a better look. Hiori knows a compromise when he sees one, and he isn't about to let his opportunity go to waste.
Hiori sighs as he pulls up Guardians of the Galaxy—Ranze's favourite—and murmurs, "Later, okay?" Earning him a small nod from the younger.
He's so cute.
Then, as if God is punishing him, his phone rings. He leans over with full intentions to hang up when he sees one of the very few names he cannot ignore.
'Parasite'
For fucks sake.
"Who is it, is it?"
The bane of my existence. "Someone I don't want to talk to."
Ranze makes an 'oh' face, "Go, go," he shoos him. Completely misunderstanding the scenario, "Go talk to her," he pushes before Hiori can get a word in, "What if something happened?"
Hiori concedes, it'll be a good way to throw Yukimiya off his track. Besides, there's a non-zero chance that the model will show up at his house if he doesn't get a response. Which is not something he wants to deal with, at least not at such a delicate time in his budding relationship. "Later, when you're asleep. I promise."
Ranze makes his amused, fond and exasperated sound. He falls asleep easily enough, though, about forty minutes into the movie. Snuggled up adorably against Hiori's side in a way that makes him regret deeply that he'll have to move him. Carefully, so as not to wake him up, Hiori shifts Kurona into his arms and carries him into their room. Placing him softly against the sheets he'd arranged just to suit his prize's preferences. After a moment of rummaging through his drawers, he finds a pair of handcuffs and fastens Ranze to the bed. Briefly, he considers slipping Kurona the sleeping pills that he'd hidden in the same drawer, but he decides against it. He shouldn't be gone that long. Hopefully, the handcuffs won't scuff his pretty skin if he wakes up before Hiori comes back.
Then, with one final kiss to his lover's forehead, he leaves. Locking one, two, three, four doors behind him until he's finally outside.
Now, time for those pesky loose ends.