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He knocked, and shrugged his bag up onto his shoulder, and turned his head to squint at the low orange of the sunset. The door clicked open, and when he looked back he saw Bane leaning half out of it, one hand on the inside handle and the other on the door frame. "Davi!!" The glow of the sunset lit up Bane's face, oh, orange you glad to see me? And Davide opened his mouth but out of the apartment behind them came a rush of wolf-whistles and jeers. Davide frowned, nodding his head in the direction of the noise, but Bane's fist shot out, clenched the collar of Davide's shirt, and pulled him inside.
Davide dropped his bag on the floor. He had just enough time to acknowledge their friends, sat in front of Bane's TV and around the coffee table, and offer them a vague wave of his hand, before Bane struck. Bane took Davide's face in his hands and kissed him. Davide didn't have enough breath, at first, and his hands jutted out into the air in a kind of unintended, awkward protest. But in the gaps between kisses, in the slips away and slips toward, and the warm way they moved between feeling and numbness, Davide felt relaxation rolling through him. At least until their hands were about each other and shrieks of oooh, lover boy! came up from the group at the table, and Davide spluttered and pushed himself away.
Davide wiped his mouth with the back of his hand while everyone laughed, but Bane said, "Dude, don't mind them!" and tried to hook his fingers around Davide's palm.
"Yeah, mind us!" Shudoh said, with the others nodding behind him.
"We did say we could hang out at some other time if you guys were gonna be," Saeki frowned and looked them up and down, "…busy," he said.
"Getting busy?" Davide suggested, and Bane grinned at him, laughing through his teeth.
A sort of thick quiet fell over the apartment then, broken now and again by Davide and Bane chuckling to themselves -- or to each other -- and by someone on the couch clearing his throat, and someone else clicking their tongue. Then Bane said, "Davi--"
"Oh, brother, here we go," Shudoh said. He was sat on the floor, just under the coffee table, and he tilted his head backwards to look at the three sat on the couch, "shall I just unpause it? They'll be at this for a while," and they shot Bane a sly look. Bane scoffed and put his hands on his hips, but he didn't deny it, and so the room filled up with soundtrack, and movie dialogue springing back into motion.
Davide heard Bane sighing, he thought, fondly at the others, and then Bane turned to look at him again. The blue light of the TV flickered in Bane's eyes, and they seemed to shimmer with it, or with something, when he looked at Davide. Bane put a hand out for Davide's cheek -- this time, slowly -- and Davide felt his breath heaving in his chest in anticipation of it there.
"You're here!" Bane said, stroking Davide's face with his thumb.
"Sorry I couldn't get here earlier," Davide said. Bane hushed him with another kiss.
"You're here now!" Bane leant his forehead against Davide's. And then he moved back again, to look over at the table. In one quick movement, he pulled Davide towards him at the hip and leant in again so they bumped noses. He said, in a whisper, "Dude they are totally distracted now, I think we could at least get to 2nd like this."
Davide laughed, and Bane planted a line of smooches from his jaw to his collarbone, and Kentaroh yelped, "We're not THAT distracted, we'll never be that distracted!!" Bane let go of Davide so he could laugh at Kentaroh. "You guys are directly in my field of vision, can you stop…?"
"Hey! Whose birthday do you think it is!" Bane said, but he gave Davide a short pat on the arm, and made his way over to the others.
Davide quickly took off his shoes -- the left shoe and the right shoe wanted to see who could get unfastened first. It was a lace. Who won? It was a tie! -- and put away his coat, then he rummaged in his bag, unpacking what he'd need for the night. He had to walk past Bane, sat on the floor by the table, to get to the bedroom, and when he did, arms bundled with the things he'd brought, Bane slapped his leg and frowned up at him. "You brought pyjamas??" he said, clicking his tongue.
"Shut up!" Davide said, giggling when he tried to speak.
"Yeah, shut up! I'll hurl," Ryoh said. They turned to give him a mock-offended look but Ryoh was staring vacantly at his phone. Bane turned back at Davide and shrugged at him, like, man, what's HIS problem? And Davide shrugged back.
On his way back from the bedroom, Davide had Bane tugging at his leg again, this time to sit with him, so Davide said, "No, I'm just gonna fix my hair," and showed him the little tub of hair product he was carrying to the bathroom.
"Okay, cool," Bane said, moving to get up, "I'll help!"
Davide laughed in a way that made him sound like he was scoffing at Bane's offer, "I don't need help, I'll just be a minute."
"Are you sure," Bane said, knowing he'd been beaten.
"I'll call you if things get… hairy," Davide said, reaching down to pat Bane's cheek in consolation.
But the bathroom door had barely closed behind him when he heard it open again, in the form of Shudoh's voice following with, "Jeez, Bane, give the guy some space!"
Icchan's voice chipped in, "Come and watch the movie!"
Bane leant against the door and said, "In a minute, okay?" before closing himself in the bathroom with Davide.
"I really don't need any help with my hair," Davide said evenly, watching Bane in the mirror. Bane grinned sheepishly and approached. He stood behind Davide, looking him over for a moment, before placing the very tips of his fingers on Davide's shoulder blade. Then Bane let his fingers sweep down, following the drop of Davide's spine. When he reached the small of Davide's back, he moved to hug his arms around Davide's waist, stepping closer to him and resting his head on Davide's shoulder. Davide made eye contact with Bane's reflection and clicked his tongue quietly. "What is it?" He said.
"Nothin'," Bane said, in a voice that almost sounded guilty, "just wanted to, y'know,"
"If I style my hair with you there, I'll elbow you in the face," Davide informed him.
"Oooh, is that a promise?" Bane said, puckering his lips and winking. Davide laughed under his breath.
"That excites you? You want that kind of funny bone? Y'know, bone, like--"
"Oh!" Bane said, "Oh that's-- that GETS me excited IN my funny bone! Oh no, I love that," he chuckled, "funny bone, yeah… I love that." Bane buried his nose in Davide's shoulder, and Davide could feel the soft grunt in the tips of his hair and it made him shiver. Bane resurfaced and blinked up at Davide's reflection. He sighed, "I love that; I love you."
There was that rush, that feeling in the pit of Davide's stomach like a sudden drop on a rollercoaster. It fizzed up inside him and made him short of breath. He cast his eyes down, because he felt awkward seeing exactly how those words from Bane changed the whole language of his face and body, reflected in the mirror in front of them. But he could feel Bane watching through the glass, in a kind of quiet readiness, like he was listening for something. Davide scrabbled at one of Bane's hands still clenched at his waist, and tried to slip his hand into it, and being hampered in this effort by the hair comb he was already holding. Bane made a little ah! noise, and helped him -- they held the comb together, sandwiched between both of their palms, and the teeth dug in when Davide squeezed Bane's hand.
Still a few more seconds of waiting, and Davide had to loosen his grip, and Bane said, lightly, "Oh no, am I… embarrassing you?" Davide put out a pathetic whimper and Bane smirked at him. He wasn't looking at Davide's reflection this time - he'd turned his head so their faces were centimetres apart as they looked at each other. "Don't get embarrassed!" Bane said, and Davide made another noise to let him know that he wasn't able to follow that advice, "Don't get embarrassed, Davide, who I love!" Davide felt a smile twitching at his lips, and Bane lifted his hand to poke a finger into Davide's cheek, "He's gone bright red!!" with fake alarm and wonderment, "I wonder what this could mean!!"
"Stop picking on me," Davide said, in his best imitation of himself, aged 5. Bane furrowed his brow in a kind of mock-sympathy.
"Ohhhh, poor Davi-kun! I can kiss that better for you," he suggested. Davide nodded, stepping himself away enough to gesture at his offended, hot cheek. Bane moved in as if to kiss it, but stopped short, gaping, taking up the curl of Davide's fringe between his thumb and finger. "Huh? What's this?" He said, and Davide blinked up at him in alarm -- and Bane caught him, right on the lips.
Bane was slow about the way he got Davide to open his mouth. They kept together as long as they could until they had to move, a slow flowing in and then out again, blood draining then rushing to all the right places with the pattern of the sea tide. The way Bane sighed as he did then tickled the wetness of Davide's lips. Davide wanted to be pulled into it, into the rhythm Bane was making for them, but there was a huge peal of laughter from the room outside which they both heard, and broke apart to acknowledge. Bane sighed again, but this time it was irritated and reluctant, and Davide chewed on his lip and began to comb his hair.
"Don'tcha wanna do this every day?" Bane said, after watching for a few quiet moments. Davide glanced at him through the mirror.
"My hair?" he said. He caught Bane's scowl in the mirror, and Bane leaned forward to slap him on the behind.
"Don't play dumb!" He said, and Davide laughed at him. "I mean," and Bane put his arms around Davide's waist again, looking up at their reflection in the mirror as they stood together. "Don’tcha wanna do this… every day?"
Davide was between saying, we already do this every day, and, it takes long enough to do my hair as-is, but he knew that wasn't the answer. He hummed and combed his hair, and Bane poked his side to try and get a response. "It's hard, hard to get my hair straight when I'm tangled up with you like this," he said, and laughing with his mouth closed.
"Ah, you know I don't care for anything straight, so don't bother," Bane said.
"You prefer something kinky," Davide suggested, and Bane gave one, loud, impressed, Ha! but gave no other reply. He was waiting again for something, and Davide ground his teeth and tried to think. "Are you sure… did you want, you didn't want anything for your birthday?" Bane raised his eyebrows, and Davide turned away from the mirror to watch his face instead of the reflection. "It's really okay I didn't get you anything…?"
Bane frowned at him, taking up his hands and squeezing them, "What? Of course it is? You know me, I wouldn't say that if I didn't mean it!"
"It's just," Davide glanced away. I do know you, but the prickles of worry over his skin wouldn't let him say that, in case he was wrong. But he wasn't, he couldn't be, "You're… fishing…" he said, and then he added, "it sounds like, to me, aren't you…?"
"Wha!" Bane began, but he chomped off the noise and puffed out his cheeks. He looked at the ceiling and breathed out slowly. "Dammit," he said, then when he turned back to Davide, he had a sly smile on his face. He punched Davide lightly on the shoulder and said, "Alright! You got me! So there is somethin' I want… but it's not like, a gift, it's--"
The pounding on the door was so hard, the hinges rattled. "Guys? Are you done? I gotta pee!"
Bane's mouth was still open from trying to finish his sentence, but he changed tack immediately, turning his face towards the door and yelling, "The fuck, Sato, how many energy drinks've you had?"
"Twenty-fo… fiv… whatever man, put your dicks away so I can come in already!" Davide scooped up his hair product from the sink, and exchanged looks with Bane, the look that Davide always imagined would be the phrase, unbe-fucking-lievable!, if Bane said his thoughts aloud. And Bane pulled open the door, and Shudoh shot past them saying, "ahh, ahhh!" and hopping as he worked the fasten on his pants.
Bane shook his head at Davide and pointed his thumb over his shoulder as they left the bathroom. "I mean, can you BELIEVE that guy?" he said, and Davide laughed warmly.
"Hooray! They got out of the bathroom!" Kentaroh said, and the others made a show of applauding them. "We were starting to think maybe you'd suffocated each other." Bane tilted his head and frowned at him. "You know, cause you were playing tonsil tennis for so long, we thought maybe you ran out of breath and died." Kentaroh said, chuckling.
"Sorry to worry you…?" Bane said, his face showed him visibly following the logic of Kentaroh's words, "wait, is that because you don't know what it's like to kiss someone? That you'd think you could suffocate…?"
Kentaroh's face looked strained and red, and he paused for emphasis after every word, "I'm not 12 anymore! I have actually kissed a girl! Lay off, okay!"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm just teasin'," Bane said, grinning. He passed the look from Kentaroh, on to Davide, and lightly rapped his knuckles against Davide's arm, "c'mon," he said, nodding towards the table, and Davide held up the hair product he'd carried out of the bathroom. "You're not gonna go back and style it, are you?" Bane said, sounding exhausted.
"Nah, I'll just tie it up," Davide said, relishing the little twinkle he saw in Bane's eyes when he said that. And when Davide returned from the bedroom, hair held back in place, he relished the way Bane's lips parted slightly just to see him, the way he shifted where he sat on the floor and held a hand out towards Davide. Davide took Bane's hand, and let himself be pulled down onto Bane's knee, wrapped his arms around Bane's shoulders, and looked at him. Davide felt the line of Bane's jaw, turning his face, focusing his attention as they watched each other. The others started a conversation about what movie to watch next, and they made their voices loud and jarring in each suggestion, and Bane and Davide kissed and ignored them.
Some time after they'd finished pawing at each other, and whispering to each other, Davide found his attention flowing back into the room -- no, that was it -- after being shushed, and having popcorn and snacks thrown at them, Davide and Bane had to, as Ryoh put it, "shut up and watch the movie!" It took a few seconds of the camera lingering on a pretty lady for Bane to scoff,
"What's this? This a chick flick?" He had one arm around Davide, but he used his free hand to shrug his distaste at the TV.
"It's Titanic!" Saeki said.
"Titanic's a chick flick!" Bane said, without adding the, why are we watching this?, that Davide heard in his tone.
"Titanic's my favourite movie!" Saeki said, leaning forward to grab the remote from the table, before holding it up above his head.
"Yeah, that's what I said: chick flick!" Bane said, rolling his eyes. Davide chewed his lips so he wouldn't laugh, and Kentaroh giggled, but the way Icchan blew air out of his nose told he was not so amused.
"We did ask you what you wanted to watch!" Icchan said. Bane frowned at him. "We did! You didn't answer!"
"That doesn't mean I wanna watch a chick flick!" Bane said, laughing as he spoke. He turned his face toward Saeki, "Oh, c'mon, it's not like I'm gonna turn it off! Put it down already!"
"Movie or not, we're all stuck in some romcom nightmare thanks to you two clowns!" Shudoh said. He leaned his elbow on the table, then pushed himself in their direction, and sending a bowl of sweets over the side of the table and all over the floor.
"Romcom nightmare," Bane repeated, kind of defiantly, kind of as a question. He scowled, and moved his head so he could show Davide his scowl, and Davide scowled back at him in agreement.
"You know!" Shudoh said. He was bent over, sliding strewn sweets into his palm and pouring them back into the bowl, and he didn't look up from his task as he continued, "All the, Ohh, Davide!! Ohh, Bane-san!! Mwah, mwah, mwah!!"
"What! We don't sound like that!" Bane said, but Davide could see his face starting to flush.
"Guys, you are two of our best friends in the world, and we love you, and we're happy for you," Icchan said, "but watching your PDAs all the time is kind of… exhausting."
Bane just stared at them, eyebrows scrunched, with his mouth open. Eventually he said, "Well, cover your little eyes, then, kiddos, 'cause it ain't for YOUR benefit!" And he adjusted his hold on Davide, pulling him closer and squeezing him. He looked at Davide, but spoke as if none of them were there, "Can ya blame me? I love my partner, I'm going mad for him, I only wanna tell 'im all the time. That's just what ya do, when you fall in love, can ya blame me?"
There were a few seconds of silence after this, and Davide felt like he was holding his breath. Not for any reaction their friends might have, but for himself. For the moment. His lips were parted and he held his breath back from passing them, like he was on the verge of having some great and wonderful thing, and he stopped his breath to calm the riot in his chest. Bane's eyes watched him, so soft and deep, and Davide took in the very air about them and held it close. But then Kentaroh said, "What has happened with you guys lately? That you're so loved up?" and the moment was broken. They looked over at Kentaroh and waited, "see, 'cause Bane-san isn't really like that, is he? Talking about love and all that -- usually, I'm talking about love - or Sae-san - and Bane-san would say we were being girls or something…?"
"Whaddya mean, I'm not like that? I'm like what I'm damn-well LIKE!" Bane spoke with enough force that Davide felt him shifting them both forward, physically. Davide moved his hand to stroke Bane's cheek and the back of his hair, and Bane exhaled. He looked at Davide for a second, and then, back to Kentaroh, "n' like, how can I-- like, what happened? You want a blow-by-blow or somethin'? I just… I'm a grown man, alright? Just, growing up." He frowned, and Kentaroh frowned back at him from across the room, but said nothing in reply.
In the quiet, Davide's whisper against Bane's ear was louder than he meant it to be, "I wouldn't mind a blow-by-blow," he said, with a chuckle. Bane's tense forehead relaxed and a grin spread over his face.
"Heeey, alright, alright!!" he said, but the rest of the group scowled and tutted. Bane made a show of rolling his eyes, "Oh, okay, maybe AFTER Titanic, 'cause y'know. They've got standards about what kinda romance they watch."
"That's backwards, Bane-san, I don't think you can sink lower than the Titanic… pfft!" Bane pointed a finger at him in whatever limited space he had and made a kind of, aha!, noise, but then drew back and headbutted Davide in punishment.
By the time the credits were rolling, Icchan had already fallen asleep on Saeki's shoulder. Ryoh roused himself by checking his phone, and the blue light was startling in the dark of Bane's apartment. Shudoh sat up and reached for a can, put it to his lips, then dropped it back again, shaking it. Then he picked up another can and shook that, until he found one that hadn't been emptied. Kentaroh wiped tears from his eyes on his sleeves, and Saeki said, "Oh, Ken, you're crying!" but his voice faltered as well, and Ryoh's blue light shimmered over Saeki's cheeks, too.
Now he was paying attention, Davide could feel the cramping in his limbs, but he also didn't want to move out of Bane's arms. Bane looked at him, hard, signalling with his eyes, and Davide pushed his face closer. Bane whispered -- but nearly without sound, mouthing all but the start of his words -- "My dick's gone numb!"
"Don't worry," Davide said, at his regular volume, "I've heard that if you rub it, the feeling comes right back." Bane laughed in a staged shake of his shoulders.
"Pins and needles?" Shudoh said, from across the table, and Bane grinned his mischief and nodded. Shudoh stretched his arms above his head, hit Icchan on the knee, and turned to look at him, "Sorry Icc-- oh, he's asleep already. Guess that means we give DaviBane their private time, or whatever." He cocked his eyebrow at them and Bane did a little fist pump.
"Nah, just kidding. Stay as long as you want, Icchan'll sleep through anything, anyway!" There was a thoughtful noise about the rest of the group, but Bane interrupted with, "Why is it always DaviBane, not BaneDavi? Why is it--"
"Well, it's true, you do alw--" Davide started but Bane held his finger up in front of Davide's mouth.
"Never mind, don't finish that," and then "and don't make a joke about 'finishing' either!" But Davide just cackled at him.
Saeki shook Icchan's shoulder to wake him, and Shudoh said, "What's the verdict, guys? I've got work tomorrow, so…"
"Icchan's out like a light!" Saeki said, "we should probably get him home." Bane scratched his neck and said, yeahhh, in sympathy, so Saeki turned to him. "Sorry, I don't wanna cut your birthday short! Especially since this is all we got for you," he gestured to the snacks and DVD boxes on the table.
"Dude, it's totally fine! I had a really good birthday! And I mean, I am broke," Bane said, and he closed his eyes as he said it, for emphasis, "flat broke. And you've gotta let me off for all o'your birthdays with this!" He turned his finger in a circle, indicating the table at the centre of the room. Everyone nodded and smiled. "I'm serious! Especially you, Sae! 'Cause I got zip!"
"In that case you'd better at least get the drinks in on my birthday!" Saeki said, folding his hands on his hips like he was disappointed, even though his tone showed he was anything but.
"One round? Maybe I can stretch to that," Bane said, and without skipping a beat, he turned to Shudoh and pretended to whisper, "Hey! Sato, dude, lend me some money, would ya?"
With Shudoh and Saeki on either side of Icchan, still half-asleep, the group said their goodbyes and shuffled out into the night. Davide and Bane stood together in the doorway, Bane with one arm around Davide's back, and waving the other as they watched their friends leave.
"This is a good look for us," Bane said, smiling out into the night air, "waving them off like mom and dad on the first day of school." Orange streetlights on the road below hit the curve of his smirk.
"Good riddance," Davide said, and Bane's husky laugh filled up Davide, too, and made him smile. Bane squeezed Davide's waist as a signal, and they stepped inside and closed the door. They stopped, facing each other, Bane's arms loosely about Davide's waist, and watched each other. Well, Bane watched Davide, and Davide waited to hear what he had to say. But he said nothing. Davide put his hand softly on Bane's wrist, to tell him, it's okay, or, let me move, but Bane shrugged his arm and shook him off. "What?" Davide said, with a laugh that verged on uneasy.
Bane looked at him with serious eyes, "I won't let go, Jack!" he said, with a passionate frown. Davide chuckled at him, and, apparently satisfied, Bane released Davide, letting him head to the bathroom. "You wanna get dinner?" Bane stood on his tiptoes and called after him, as if that would help his voice to carry.
"Dinner, or a bath, or maybe even me," Davide supplied the rest of the phrase, before closing the bathroom door.
"Don't be rash, we can have it all!" Bane called, from the other side of the door.
They ate dinner together. They stole food from each other's plates, and fed each other, and gave each other messy and unappetising food kisses -- the messier and more unappetising, the better. Davide used a kiss to pass along some pre-chewed food to Bane, then broke away quickly to watch the reaction. Bane frowned, cheeks puffed out like he was trying to avoid whatever-it-was with his tongue, and his hand held up close to his mouth, ready to catch the food when he spat it out. Bane stared at the mushy, black, slimy thing in his hand with his tongue poked out in disgust and he shuddered.
"Dude, what did you put in my mouth??" he said, and as soon as he spoke, his shoulders dropped, and he looked at Davide with a tired expression as if he knew Davide was going to say,
"That's not what you said last night!!" Davide snickered and slapped Bane's shoulder. Bane shook the mystery substance off his hand and onto an empty corner of his plate.
"Yer breakin' my heart, man, I was alone last night!" He said.
"Aww," Davide said, mocking him, and Bane said it back. "I called you, at least," Davide said. He peeked around his bedroom door, into the dark of the hall, listening for his parents' snores. They knew, and he was an adult now, but he still did it -- maybe, because it was like it was all a secret again, his heart thudding when he took care to close the door without a sound -- he flicked off his light as he found Bane's number in his phone and dialled. He curled himself up under his duvet, in the dark, seeing the folds in the sheets just in front of his eyes glow white-blue like the ridges on a snowy mountain. He was alone, but together with Bane-san, the pressure of his phone at his ear, and the wisps of his breath trapped in the duvet warming his cheeks. And when the call connected he said, "Even when we're not together I call you at night to tell you my puns. Why? Because I just love pushing your buttons! Pfft!" and there was a long silence on the line after that until Bane said, in his flattest voice, what are you wearing?
"At least! Yer damn right!" Bane strode over to the corridor kitchen and ran his hands under the tap. He shook the water off, clutched at a tea towel, before taking his place on the couch again, "It's my birthday, we shouldn't have to see midnight in with some phone call--"
"RING midnight in with some phone call!" Davide pointed out, and Bane slapped the top of his head with a heavy pat.
"Whatever, we should've been able to ring it in together! We should've rung it in with--"
"With a bang?" Davide stressed the word and Bane smirked at him.
"Well, yeah!"
Davide lay huddled, clutching his alarm clock in one hand, pressing the light on it every once in a while, waiting for midnight. "I don't want to alarm you--" he said, then, "oh, I'm looking at the time on my alarm clock, that's why it's funny--" and Bane said, that AIN'T funny!, but Davide went on, "I think you just got a little bit older. Happy birthday!" And Bane said, I miss you. I wish you were with me.
"Finished?" Bane said. Davide blinked at him. He nodded at the empty dinner plate Davide was holding in his hand, and Davide said, oh!, and held it up for Bane to take. Davide watched Bane -- taking up every empty dish or glass left by the earlier party, bit by bit, and depositing it all in the sink. Davide heard the rush of the tap, water bouncing off the plates, and Bane stood back in his line of sight, staring at the table, and idly scratching his arm. Bane's dark eyes were unreadable, but for Davide, that alone spoke volumes… like book volumes. Readable. Bane said, "Oh!" when he spotted another abandoned mug on the floor by the table, and moved over to fish it up. He was halfway to standing again, when he looked back at Davide and grinned, "What, jeez? Does this do it for you?" He laughed, but he moved off, out of Davide's sight, in a hurry.
"Bane-san?" Davide said, and Bane made a sound to show he was listening. Davide paused, tilting his head, trying to catch a glimpse of Bane behind the fridge and cabinets.
"Yeah?" Bane repeated, leaning backwards so he could see the couch over the counter, and for a minute, he seemed surprised to find Davide watching him. He breathed out, and it was somewhere between a laugh and a sigh, and he looked down at his hands for a moment, "Yeah? What's up?" Then he glanced up at Davide. It was kind of self-conscious, but it was also, in a word, persuasive, and Davide felt it like a jolt shaking through him.
Davide's mouth was open, but the words he had been waiting to say vanished on him as he looked at Bane. And Bane caught it, that something just now had knocked Davide speechless, and Bane chuckled and bit his lip. Then he said "Shit!" and darted away, toward the sink, and out of view. The sound of the water stopped, and Bane said, "Well, that coulda been bad…" He appeared again at the counter and leant his elbows on it, leaning over it to get a better view of Davide. "So… what's up?" He had that glint in his eye, the one Davide knew meant Bane was enjoying himself. "Something you wanna tell me?" Bane pushed.
"Uhh…" Davide said, suavely. He laughed and glanced about him, looking for a line. Davide's eyes stopped on a pile of DVD boxes on the table, and he looked back up at Bane, "Right! I, um, I'm gonna put on Major League," Bane's eyes widened, and then, they eased. His whole frame eased, as he leant backward, pushing himself off the counter, with an unbeatable grin.
"Sorry dishes," Bane said, to the sink, Davide assumed, "I just had a better offer." Davide chewed the inside of his lip to stop himself from smiling, and put a hand on his ponytail, checking for loose strands of hair. That wasn't what he was going to say, at all, but it wasn't a bad save in the slightest. Davide crossed the room to load the DVD player, and Bane sat himself back on the couch and watched. "Y'know," Bane said, with a note of warning in his voice, "whenever we watch this, one of us has GOTTA say: Do You Remember When We--"
Davide looked up at him quickly, this time unable to stop his smile, "Oui!!" he said. Bane laughed as Davide approached him on the couch.
"Well, maybe there's a lot of things I'd rather not remember, about that time," and Bane ground his teeth and shuddered, "yikes," he said, under his breath, but Davide reached out to touch his face, charmed by it. Bane gave himself two sharp pats on his lap and said, "Well? Hop on, bro," and Davide wrinkled his nose and complied.
Davide sat himself sideways on Bane's lap, twisting at the hip so he could hold Bane's face, and kiss him to the movie's intro music. It was a slow drive; Davide pushed against Bane to kiss him then pulled back, a second or more before Bane was ready. He looked at Bane, once, twice -- he liked that in every pull back there was more of it, Bane's little flicker of irritation, and gradually, Bane's legs moved apart and Davide fell between them: the small of Davide's back braced against Bane's inner thigh. And Bane's arms moved to support Davide's waist, and Bane moved, trying to catch Davide in a kiss, but Davide turned his head neatly, denying him with a soft laugh. Bane huffed, but he found his lips on Davide's neck, and it was easier, and Davide closed his eyes to enjoy it.
Bane's breath felt hot on Davide's skin, and Bane's teeth gave that sweet pressure that-- "Pfft!" Davide covered his mouth with his hand, and looked up weakly at Bane, frowning. "Sorry," he said, but his chest and shoulders gave away that he hadn't stopped laughing.
"What?" Bane said, sighing, shoulders dropping in defeat. Davide put his lips against Bane's ear.
"I just remembered, that time, and you said, I don't bite you know! And then--" but laughter caught up with him, and Bane groaned.
"Oh my God…" he said, letting go of Davide so he could pass a hand over his forehead, "Will you not let me forget that?" he said. He was smiling and his face was red, but there was a note of distress in the way he spoke. Davide knew this was the kind of Bane-san only he could experience, and Davide knew, also, that it was a kind of guilty pleasure to bring him out.
"I'm sorry…" Davide said, tilting his head, talking through pursed lips, "Am I embarrassing you?" Bane gave his most deliberate, pathetic whine, and Davide gasped, as he remembered what it was he was going to say. "Bane-san?" he said, tone now serious, "what did you want? --For your birthday, from me?"
Bane's smirk reappeared, and his frame lifted. He squeezed Davide's waist tight, and brought his face close to Davide's, so when he spoke, Davide could feel him tickling his cheek, "Ohhh, don't you know what I want?" he said. He smiled, and Davide felt that on his cheek, too, and his face tingled where he wanted to be kissed. But Bane listened, and when Davide came out with no answer, Bane shook him, rocking his head back by enough that they could look at each other. "Do you need a hint?" Bane said, one eyebrow raised.
This was a game, and Davide was being toyed with. He didn't want Bane-san to know he was puzzled, so he said, "Is it THIS?" and reached out for something he could play with.
"Woah!" Bane yelped, "Easy!"
"I know you are, but what am I?" Davide said, and Bane cackled and retrieved Davide's hand. He pushed his fingers between Davide's and held him still.
"Only for you, though, 'cause I love ya," Bane said. Davide tried to free his hand from Bane's, but Bane resisted, and they bared their teeth at each other and arm-wrestled. "Give up!" Bane said, laughing, but it was the opening Davide wanted and he snatched his hand away, hovering it over Bane's chest in warning.
"I'll do it!" Davide said, and Bane put his hands up, ready to defend his body.
"I didn't want to be tickled, that wasn't the gesture I was angling for," Bane said, but Davide's hand made a dive for Bane's ribs, and Bane jammed his elbow down against his chest to trap him out. "Fuckin'… stop…" Bane said, and Davide laughed in a triumphant way. "Okay! Okay! Whaddya want? Another hint?" Bane's eyes were watering and his breath was short, so Davide accepted his surrender. He reached his arms around Bane's neck and kissed him.
"Okay, give me a hint," Davide said, close to Bane's face and watching him underneath his eyelashes.
"Give me a hint, master," Bane corrected him, and Davide slapped him sharply on the cheek. "Dammit!! How are you so fast at that?" Bane rubbed at his face, a look of wonder in his eyes that Davide took to mean he was impressed.
"How are you so fast at that, master," Davide said, and Bane wrinkled his nose and shook a finger at him.
"Okay, fair enough." They chuckled at each other and smooched, and Bane said, "You want your hint? It's something that I gave to you, and I want you to give it back to me."
Davide narrowed his eyes, "…And it's really not cock?" He said. Bane's laughter was huge and explosive, he grinned and looked away, but when he looked back at Davide, he shook his head, and said, nuh-uh, nope! Davide's shoulders dropped, going over in his head all the little things Bane gave him recently.
"Although…" Bane said, when the silence stretched on too long, "I never say no to…" and he entwined his fingers with Davide's.
"You noticed? I stole it. Your shirt?" Davide looked up at Bane, creasing his brow just enough to look deeply sad and sorry, the look that got him off the hook every time, "Was it wrong? Are you mad?"
"Eh, you stole my shirt?" Bane said, and Davide blinked.
"I wear it in bed," Davide offered. Although he'd actually only worn it to class as a good luck charm. It got a little less lucky after Bane dropped out of uni.
"Hey, keep it!" Bane said. He stroked the side of Davide's face and smiled at him with all the warmth in the world, but Davide frowned in irritation. "Besides, if I'm lucky, it'll end up back on my bedroom floor anyway!"
"It's not the shirt?" Davide said, stressing the not, and sighing at himself. "Well -- what is it?"
"Oh, Davi-kun, don't give up!" Bane put his hand on Davide's chin and shook his face.
"I don't get it," Davide said, "Return it?" and Bane said, that's right!, but Davide went on, "something you didn't mean to give me? You want back?"
"Oh no, I meant it!" Bane said, and Davide puffed out his cheeks. "It's not… okay, no, I can't actually take it off you, like. You've got it now, it's yours--"
"Then why have you said that? 'Give it back' ?" Davide crossed his arms over his chest, forgetting he was only balanced against Bane's body, and almost fell off the couch before Bane caught him at the waist.
"Because, it was supposed to be a hint!" Bane said, defensive, but still smiling. Davide sighed and cast his eyes downwards, and Bane tilted his head and stroked the top of Davide's arm. "Has it stopped being fun?" Bane said, with an apologetic tone.
"It sucks," Davide said, "Not knowing you -- what you, not knowing what you want," and Bane made a noise that sounded even sorrier. Davide looked up into Bane's eyes again, showing him that sad look again, and Bane, with his furrowed brow, pulled Davide close and kissed him.
When Bane broke it up, he brought Davide to his chest, and Davide could feel the vibration of Bane's voice on the side of his face. "I think you know, really, what it is." Davide was glad Bane couldn't see the face he pulled, hearing that. "Davide?" Bane said, and without waiting for a reply, "I love you." Davide's chest ached, yes, because he was loved, but also with failure. Why didn't he know the answer? Bane-san really, really trusted that he knew what it was, and Davide really, really felt like he was letting him down, even now. But Bane laughed softly in his ear. "A-and I think you love me, too," Bane said, failing to fill his voice with confidence.
"Ah," the sound wasn't so much a word said on purpose, but a breath that had been meant to carry a word. The word didn't come. Davide closed his mouth and tried again, but every time his words died in a gasp on his tongue. Bane's arms were warm as they held him, and they held him tighter, and Davide needed to speak, anything at all. His hands gripped the back of Bane's shirt, and the silence was broken.
By Bane.
"It's okay to say it, y'know," he said. Davide thought about pulling back, looking Bane-san in the eyes and letting the expression of his face tell Bane-san, instead of words. Bane said, on the back of a nervous laugh, "Like, it's okay, I'll hold you just like this so you don't have to look at me if it's embarrassing!" Oh. There was an ache in Davide's chest now, like he'd met an obstacle he couldn't overcome. And he knew himself, now, to be a failure. He saw an endless stretch of time ahead of them, with him held close to Bane's chest, and he imagined the hurt dripping slowly into Bane's warm heart. Davide put his lips against Bane's ear, and his lips trembled, and his breath trembled, but his voice stayed shut up inside him. "Nobody's here, just me," Bane reminded him, "what, you think," Davide felt one of Bane's arms release him for just a second, "Wild Thing's gonna pop outta the TV and make fun of you?" He gave a short laugh, but his arm encircled Davide again; his hand stroked Davide's back just beneath the collar of his shirt.
"You…" and for a moment, Davide was alarmed by the sound of his own voice, "You know… don't you?" Bane was quiet for a while.
"Yeah, I know," Bane said. He squeezed Davide so tight then that all the air was pushed out of Davide's lungs and he breathed heavily against Bane's ear, "Ohh, ooh, babe I'm into that!" Bane said, chuckling and squeezing so hard, Davide tapped out on Bane's shoulder blade. "God, I feel like I know it better than this fuckin' movie, that you love me. 'Course I know! I just…" Bane moved one of his hands away, and Davide took in a huge breath, "I just really wanted to hear you say it."
Davide closed his eyes, and he was in the deep, bright blue of that night in summer. Bane-san, lying beneath him, chewing his lip, and looking up into Davide's eyes. I love you. And Davide thought that time had stopped, that everyone besides the two of them had disappeared. He thought they'd entered a world where there were no awkward words, no words at all, and he loved Bane-san, and he'd love him forever. He'd promised that in his lips and his tongue and his teeth, without words. But he never said it, and he saw the flaking apartment wall behind the couch, shadowed by Bane's head, and he wondered if that night had ended, after all? Davide tried to think of Bane-san -- weird, restless, excited Bane-san -- as he had been since that heavy night together on the beach, and only now did he think of him as waiting.
"Bane-san, I…"
"No. Don't. Uhh, don't say it, okay?" Davide felt Bane rocking him forward so they could look at each other, "Seriously. I, um…" Bane scratched at the back of his neck and glanced away, "Well, it's not right, if you say it now because I asked you to, is it? It's not--"
Davide put his hands on Bane's face, "But it's true…"
"I know! I don't have any more doubts, okay? I get it, I'm just being weird and desperate, like everyone said."
Davide's surprise clenched into anger in the crease of his brow, "Who said??"
"Sae and everyone. What, you heard them, right? The guys, they were all, ohh what's got into you? Y'know? All that, Bane give him some space! You heard that?" Bane pulled a face as he imitated them, giving them high-pitched and irritating voices. "Then, when I told my folks about--" Bane interrupted himself, "Errr, well, I was talking about, y'know, how things've been getting serious lately…"
"Who said anything about serious?" Davide said. Bane poked his finger against the tip of Davide's nose.
"Can you even believe it but my folks? They started talking like WE'RE too young to be deeply, madly in love," Bane had space in his complaint to kiss Davide before he finished his point, "I was like, two, by the time they were my age. I thought I was just," he sighed, his eyes flicking to Davide's lips and neck, "y'know. Manning up. Acting like an adult -- and my folks, they never do that kinda parenting bit, so I freaked out." Bane was frowning again, and something about his silence made Davide uneasy, and Davide longed to ask him what he was thinking. But Bane breathed out a quick huff, and laughed and shook himself out of it. "You don't think I'm weird, do ya?"
Davide's face softened, and he stroked Bane's cheek and looked at him, and knew he was saying, I love you, but there was no sound. And Bane leaned in and kissed him, but stopping a second or more before Davide would have liked, and he chuckled into Davide's mouth.
"So in the end, I guess I'm the one who got you a present, on my birthday."
"Huh?" Davide stared, wide-eyed, as Bane shuffled him a little way off his lap so he could reach into the pocket of his jeans.
"Well, I hope you like it, because it's all you're getting, for my birthday OR yours!" Bane held out a clenched fist towards Davide. Davide stared at it. "I'm not asking for a brofist here, stick out your hand already!"
Davide held up his palm. A key dropped onto it.
"Let's ride that wave of how you don't think I'm weird, and you totally love me, and just move in with me, okay?" Bane laughed, and Davide stared at the key in his hand. A few seconds passed. Bane tilted his head, trying to read Davide's reaction on his face.