Six Months

This one is for veniachan, qwerty and B (and I think there was another person who suggested something with Ryuuken, but I can't find who! :O) It may not be exactly what you prompted, but this is what happened in my head while I thought about the prompts XD

Also, I think this one is my favorite :)


January:

Ryuuken


Uryuu Ishida didn't believe in sleeping in on weekends. He knew that sleeping late only encouraged abnormal sleep patterns, and that the best way to consistently get enough sleep was to maintain a regular schedule. So, with very few exceptions, he woke up at 6:30 AM every day to the quiet double beep of his cell phone alarm.

He didn't believe in sleeping in, but he did believe in letting Chad sleep in, those weekends when he stayed over. So, when his phone beeped in the semi-darkness of this January Sunday morning, he carefully silenced it, then snuggled back into the covers. Chad's large body radiated heat, and it was such a luxury to press himself into it on wintry mornings such as this, when his ears and the tip of his nose felt cold as ice.

Muffling the sound as well as he could, he sniffled, then gingerly rolled to face Chad, burying his head under the blankets. He wrapped an arm around Chad's waist, flattening his hand against smooth, bare skin and he smiled, content to lie here and hold Chad while he slept, the two of them crammed into Uryuu's twin bed. They weren't the most comfortable of sleeping arrangements, but Chad hadn't complained so far. Not that he would, but--

The click of a key turning in the lock of his door jolted Uryuu out of his warm, drifting thoughts. Frantically, he rolled over, slapping his hand down on his glasses. He shoved them on his face and kept rolling, and the cold air wracked him with shivers when he came half off the bed to reach for his robe, draped neatly over the back of his desk chair, at least a foot out of reach.

The door swung open before he do anything more. Uryuu jerked the covers over himself again. Chad shifted behind him, making some mumbly sound, but Uryuu barely noticed.

Ryuuken Ishida stood in the doorway, outlined by the brilliant pinkish gold of the rising sun. Cold air whipped his dove-grey overcoat around his calves and ruffled his white hair, then swirled in, disturbing the papers on Uryuu's desk and raising fresh gooseflesh on his arms.

"Close the door," Uryuu hissed, ice in his voice.

Without a word, Ryuuken swung the door shut behind him. He took another step into the apartment, and the way he glanced about--one quick sweep of his eyes took in kitchenette, living area and bed without him even having to turn his head--made the place feel even smaller than it was.

A wry smile twisting his lips, Ryuuken shrugged out of his overcoat and placed it over the back of Uryuu's desk chair, covering Uryuu's robe. Then he swiveled that chair away from the desk and took a seat, crossing his legs at the knee. He plucked at the crease of his tailored, pale grey trousers, then sat there wordlessly, a mere two feet away from his estranged son.

...And his estranged son's bed-mate, who was still waking up; the door had swung open only a few seconds ago. Chad wriggled behind Uryuu, the touch of naked skin on skin distracting in a much different way than it usually was.

Uryuu scowled at his father, but took pains to make his voice cool and steady. "How did you get a key?"

"Your landlord gave it to me." Ryuuken laced his fingers together over his knee, gazing beyond Uryuu to whatever parts of Chad were showing. Uryuu almost didn't want to know how much he'd exposed when he'd yanked at the covers earlier.

Flattening his lips, Uryuu glared daggers at Ryuuken. He'd never told his father he was gay; it was none of his concern, and Uryuu had absolutely no desire to know what the man thought about his sexual orientation, or his choice in companions.

Really, Uryuu didn't care what his father thought of anything, but he especially didn't care what he thought about this.

His jaw hurt, and Uryuu realized he was clenching his teeth. "I--"

Ryuuken interrupted. "Well, this explains a lot."

Uryuu sputtered, his cool rapidly deserting him. "What does that mean?"

With a languid shrug, Ryuuken said, "I always suspected, you know. It's quite gratifying to know I was right. And... " He raised a pale eyebrow. "I see you've taken an exotic lover. How... chic."

Rage overcame Uryuu, blurring his eyes, burning his face, and his hand trembled when he pointed to the door. "Leave. Get out!"

Ryuuken stared mildly for a few seconds, the dry smile never leaving his face. It wasn't until Uryuu felt Chad sit up behind him that Ryuuken stood. Casually, of course, and still smiling, but at least he was on his feet, and already drawing his overcoat around his shoulders.

Uryuu took a deep breath. "Leave the key," he gritted out. "Why did you even come here?"

Smoothly, Ryuuken reached into his pocket and withdrew not the key, but a white envelope. "This was delivered to the house." He dropped it onto the desk, and Uryuu saw that it had been opened. His hands clenched into fists. "That's quite a substantial scholarship," Ryuuken said. "Congratulations."

And that was that; his final humiliation delivered, Ryuuken turned smoothly and left, and when the door clicked behind him, Uryuu let out a half-sob, half-groan of rage and frustration. The final humiliation was possibly the worst one; that little bit at the end had actually made him feel good. All his academic achievements, all the hard work he'd done to provide for his own college education, and he'd never felt prouder than when his absolute, irredeemable prick of a father told him Congratulations.

He was glad he didn't have anything to throw. Still shaking, he turned to lock eyes with Chad, who was gazing at him with heavy eyebrows drawn and a concerned expression on his normally placid face.

"That," Uryuu said, determined to keep his voice level, "was my father."

Chad's eyes scanned his face, the tightness of his lips making Uryuu wonder how bad he actually looked.

"Now you know why I haven't been impatient for you to meet him." Uryuu sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I'm sorry, Yasutora, he's always like that, he's just..." Uryuu couldn't say he didn't mean it, couldn't say he was just joking. He'd never been in this position before, where he had to apologize for Ryuuken's horrid, hurtful behaviour, and he didn't know if he even had the words.

Strong arms wrapped around him, drew him back down to the mattress. Chad kissed his forehead, stroked his back, attempting to comfort him. Uryuu tried not to twitch. He hugged Chad back, wishing he could reclaim that drowsy, comfortable peace he'd felt just ten minutes prior. But his veins were full of adrenaline, his stomach full of acid, and his mind full of thoughts he didn't want to think.

Chad seemed to sense his discomfort; with one final squeeze to his arm, he loosened his hold. In an uncomfortable mix of reluctance and relief, Uryuu pulled away to sit on the edge of the bed, tucking the corner of the blanket around himself.

"I'm not usually this..." Uryuu said, and he made a sharp gesture with his hand.

"I know," Chad said. He moved to sit beside Uryuu, unselfconscious of his nudity.

"He... " Uryuu bit off what he was going to say, some bit of complaining that would only open the floodgates, and then he'd be griping about his father all morning. Which would certainly be boring to Chad, and Uryuu didn't think it could do him any good anyway.

He exhaled heavily, then squared his shoulders and rose from the bed. Shivering, he wrapped his thick robe around himself and padded toward the kitchen, the tiles cold under his feet.

"Do you want any tea?" he asked, filling the teapot from the tap.

"Uryuu..." Chad said, still perched on the edge of the mattress.

Uryuu shook his head minutely, then rooted in the cabinet for the box of tea. "I think I'll have sugar this morning. Do you want to go out and have breakfast?"

"Uryuu." Now, Chad's voice was thick with concern, and that concern made Uryuu bite his lip, hard. He swallowed and tried to keep his hands steady as he lit the burner.

Uryuu hated talking about his father, which is why he... really never had. But for a second, he wanted to tell Chad everything about Ryuuken, from his childhood on, the death of his mother, his father's distance that turned to bitter animosity and then absolute indifference, and had lately become something softer underneath the prickliness. It was a softness Uryuu didn't trust one bit, and it nettled him how much he wanted to trust it.

I'm really not this fragile, Uryuu wanted to say.

He breathed out shakily; firmed his voice. "I hate that word. Lover."

Bedsprings creaked behind him. He opened the refrigerator, stared inside blankly, closed it again.

"It sounds so... dirty. Such ugly connotations." Trust broken. Vows betrayed. Shameful, illicit affairs.

Beside him, Chad lifted the teapot and placed it onto the burner that was actually lit.

"I like the word lover," Chad said. "I... do, you know."

"Well, that's fine, but I d--" Uryuu's eyes widened behind his glasses, and he turned to look at Chad, who leaned against the kitchen counter, still naked, and holding the box of tea. Passing it from hand to hand, watching Uryuu in a way that was almost--

Nervous.

"Oh," Uryuu said.

Chad only watched him as his brain caught up, all thoughts of his father fled. Uryuu swallowed hard against the lump that had risen in his throat. He'd thought it, he'd felt it himself, but they'd never said it, neither one of them, because it just felt too early, no matter that he really really did--

Uryuu's voice was never going to be steady today; he might as well accept it. He took a deep breath. "Never doubt that I do too."

And Chad smiled, so warm, and gathered Uryuu up and kissed him, and it was sweet enough to nearly make Uryuu forget how badly the morning had started. When they pulled apart, flushed and grinning like they hadn't since the first days, Uryuu reached out and turned off the burner with a decisive snap of his wrist.

"Let's go back to bed," he said.

*****