#t2techies

Arakita had always had a strong distaste for anything hospital related ever since the “incident”. He tended to feel trapped and suffocated. It was not out of the realm of possibilities that he would likely jump at the first chance to get away. Fortunately, there were no eerily white walls or that suffocating stench that a real hospital would bring along with it. The location here was an open tent so it wasn’t like he couldn’t see the sun, either….or hear the music outside. However, his attention was diverted by the same kid he met earlier reaching around him with a stern eye to bandage his hands. Arakita instinctively wanted to jerk away but his muscles wouldn’t budge. It was creepy. Something about the dark haired boy made him want to welcome his help. There was a sort of pressure and general calmness about him that pacified Arakita. In a way, somewhere deep in the back of his subconscious he supposed it almost reminded him of Fuku-chan. Almost.

It only took a little of prodding and explanation to figure out his name was Teshima and he was a technician for that small band, Rock Hime. Teshima seemed to be quite good at this whole medic thing and Arakita couldn’t help but joke that he should’ve chose that career path instead. He had very nimble fingers and got the wrapping down to an art. Arakita had to laugh when the boy went on to chastise him for throwing punches as if he were his mother. The rapper attempted to explain his reasoning with his usual bullheaded air but was drawn into silence when Teshima could combat every claim he made. It was annoying as hell but impressive. He supposed that’s how he felt towards the kid, impressed.   Conversations back and forth went on for an hour or so before Arakita began to feel his eyelids closing, surely a result of the pain medication he’d been forced into taking. Mere seconds ticked by before he was fully engulfed in slumber. The nap didn’t last too long, though, as the pain that prickled his fingers woke him up a bit later. Arakita opened up his eyes blearily to see Teshima had dozed off in the seat next to him. A roll of fresh bandages was still clutched in his right hand. He looked so incredibly peaceful that Arakita couldn’t help but stare for a few moments, taking in how a dark, curled tendril lay across his cheek. The rapper was tempted to move it but refrained on the off chance that it’d wake him up. Teshima had gone through enough stress today it looked like. And Arakita couldn’t help but feel a tad guilty as it was mostly his doing.   

He rolled over on his bed and sat up so that he was face to face with the boy. It would be rude of him not to bother with some sort of gratitude after all this mess. Arakita lowered his head slightly so that he was breathing along the kid's neck. 

”…thank you, Teshima…”

    Meeting Aoyagi for the first time was a surprising affair. As it happened, a joint show between Rock Hime and IM FAST had been scheduled for a holiday event. With Rock Hime second to go, Shinkai took to watching their activities during set change. He hadn’t meant to be sitting on something Aoyagi needed, and when he came up and asked him to, 'Please move, I am in a hurry and I need the microphone case',with little more than a quick glance, Shinkai thought nothing of it until he had risen, procured the case himself and handed it to Aoyagi, who dropped it out of shock.    Shinkai scratched his head as the then nameless blonde grabbed the case and quickly walked away to set up. It took Shinkai a few more calculated encounters that evening (and subsequent glares from the ‘perm tech’) to understand what was actually happening.’Aoyagi’ as his name happened to be, spoke almost exclusively with his eyes, and Shinkai, as someone else who had that ability, could read it. The fact that he was understanding it and responding without using any facial expression at all must also have been unnerving the poor tech, because he took to avoiding Shinkai at all costs.

    Being the manipulative bastard he was, however, Shinkai managed to get him alone (Almost a year later) and stop him with a desperate grab of Aoyagi’s wrist when he had tried to run. He hadn’t let much of his guard down in a long time but it would be okay with this guy right? The elapsed time had made Shinkai almost desperate to communicate with this guy. He had kept his head bowed as Aoyagi hissed a ‘let go!’ out loud, but when Shinkai finally let his gaze meet Aoyagi’s, he tried to pour as much expression into his eyes as he could muster after so long. 'Don't go yet, I really want to talk… like this, because I understand but I'm scared.'     Much like the first meeting, Aoyagi froze. This time though, he locked eyes with Shinkai first in surprise, and then with warm understanding and nodded. 'It's okay.' He was so happy in that moment that he didn’t realize he had begun rubbing circles on Aoyagi’s wrist with his thumb, causing the techie to blush and Shinkai to follow moments later.    The easy companionship the two shared after that morphed into something more, as Shinkai became totally at ease with Aoyagi. The language they spoke between themselves from that point on had mystified most, with the exception of Teshima, who while unsure of Shinkai at first, had affirmed that he was good for Aoyagi when things became serious enough to seek approval from the band. Mostly though, Aoyagi was someone Shinkai felt completely safe opening up to. He was understood without having to explain himself, and the things they could convey were pure and raw.     Some time after Shinkai had properly asked Aoyagi on a date, they found themselves in a rather lavish room of one of Japan’s finest hotels. Neither of their places afforded much peace, and with both of them desiring some quiet, a weekend away during down time was the perfect escape. The remainder of their room service sat on its cart near the door of the suite, and thoroughly full, Aoyagi had fell asleep on Shinkai’s lap as the movie they had picked on TV played.