I just wanna be your friend

[inthejunk]

Who:Yosuke and Shikamaru
When:4/12
Where:The beach
Summary:Shika is low on V, and Yosuke is low on luck. They bump into each other and things get tense.
Warnings:Language, mentions of drug use, mentions of past violence are likely...just assume you should read with a bit of caution if you aren't familiar with these two.



[The beach was still cold, at this time of year. Freezing. Well, not quite freezing, but still way too chilly to be walking along the quick rush of the tide, letting it wash over his bare feet. But he'd spent so much time outside recently that it didn't matter anyway. Besides, he was over that chill he'd caught not long ago. If his feet were numb up to his ankles, that was just fine by him.]

[Yosuke stared out at the horizon, where it met the water. When you were at the beach, it always seemed like anywhere else. Like you could just sail off into the setting sun if you really wanted to. Like you could leave, and never look back.]

[Except that usually no one else was crazy enough to be out there with him, at this time of year. He blinked in surprise. Hell, he knew this crazy person. And he had been trying to track him down for...a long time, now. Had it been a couple of weeks? A month? Longer? Too long, at any rate. There was no way he could just keep walking, now.]

...Hey.

Comments

[underachiever]

[Shikamaru was sitting just far enough from the water to ensure that the waves wouldn't reach him. A pile of cigarettes stubs were smashed into the sand beside him, and he was smoking a fresh one. His eyes were on the sky, and although he noticed someone approaching, it took him a moment to realize it was Yosuke.]



Hey.

[His voice was especially hoarse today, the tobacco a likely culprit.]

[inthejunk]

[Yosuke's voice had deserted him for a bit a few weeks back, but you'd never know it now. It's strong and steady when he replies, though his body betrays him by hovering uncertainly at a slight distance instead of taking a seat beside Shikamaru like he usually would.]

How have you...uh. You know. How've you been?

[He glances down at the cigarette butts, and licks his lips. He's been meaning to try one, actually. He can just imagine how cool he would look in a long, dark coat. The kind that billows out behind him in the wind. With a pistol holstered at his hip, and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.]

[Yeah. No one would dare make fun of him then. He'd look like a real hero. He watches Shika take a puff, hurngrily, eager and nervous and excited to give it a go. He'd try anything, if only to see if he could pull it off. But this isn't even a question, right? Any idiot can smoke a cigarette.]

[Maybe he used to smoke them, even. He'll know if he asks. Shika's reaction will give it away. So he sucks in a lungful of salty, crisp air and nods casually at Shika, in that 'hey sup, spare a smoke?' kind of way.]

Got another?

[underachiever]

[No answer when it comes to his well-being. Shikamaru blows the smoke out of the corner of his mouth, directing it away from Yosuke. He quirks an eyebrow at the request, considering it for a long moment.

Then:]

You hate smoking.

[inthejunk]

Says who?

[A little indignantly. That sounds like a rip, to him. But getting his feathers ruffled a bit that way relaxes him enough to drop into the sand instead of standing awkwardly.]

[It's probably true. He'd always been grateful no one at school had offered him a smoke, because then he would have had to try it. And they smell bad. And what if he did it wrong? And his mother would definitely kill him.]

[...But his mother isn't here. And Shika's just another cool kid he's trying to impress, isn't he? Suddenly, he's annoyed.]

Anyway, you didn't answer the question.

[underachiever]

I'm fine.

[Did you expect him to say anything else? He takes one last drag, then crushes the cigarette into the sand along with the others.]

What about you?

[inthejunk]

[Sigh. Okay, yeah, he really hates it when you do that, dude. But since Shika doesn't seem to be dead this time at least, he'll assume it's at least sort of true.]

I'm fine.

[See how you like it, you jerk.]

[underachiever]

Good.

[As if he ever expects people to tell him the truth anyway. His gaze returns to the clouds.]

[inthejunk]

[Eyeroll. But whatever, they've had this argument too many times already, and it's not like it ever goes anywhere. Yosuke flops onto his back and gazes up at the clouds, too. The next question is a little shy, but he holds his voice steady so that it won't sound that way.]

Are you back, now?

[underachiever]

Back home? Yeah. Over a week, now.

[inthejunk]

Really?

[Yosuke bolts up again, getting sand everywhere.]

[It leaves a bitter taste in his mouth, that he wouldn't have ever found out if not by accident. But he shoves it back down, because he's been doing a lot of thinking about that, and come to the conclusion that Shika doesn't owe him any special treatment. He isn't Shika's Yosuke...not right now, anyway. It was right all along to draw a line, and they've blurred it way too many times already.]

[But he might be Shika's new Yosuke one day, if he earns it. He's surprised to find that the smile that lights his face is genuine, this time. And it doesn't have that bitter aftertaste that it used to, either.]

Dude, that's awesome. Welcome back.

[underachiever]

[Shikamaru turns to look at Yosuke now, blinking at that reaction. Honestly, the reason he hadn't brought it up was because it hadn't seemed like a big deal to him. What does it matter where he is? He's a waste of space in any given location. Being home means being a burden to Uryuu instead of Seras. It isn't something worthy of congratulations.]

...Thanks.

[inthejunk]

[...Damn, that was really uncool, wasn't it? Way too enthusiastic. Yosuke ducks his head, using the excuse of brushing sand from his hair and shoulders, and hopes his face isn't pink.]

[Shika will never take him seriously if he can't act serious. Ugh. He takes a slow, steadying breath and lets it out softly, just a puff of tension escaping his lungs in the form of oxygen. He forces himself to relax, again. It's easy to be tense around Shika now, after that whole mess with the blood, but it won't help anything.]

Sure. We can celebrate. Nill will want to see you, I'm sure of it. She's only had me to keep her company lately, can you imagine? And for a few days, I couldn't even talk.

[He snorts and shakes his head.]

I'm sure she's missed you a lot, dude.

[underachiever]

[He doesn't want to outright shoot down the idea of visiting Nill, but it's something that'll have to wait. There's a clock ticking on his remaining sanity, and he won't put her through the trauma of watching him go through withdrawal. Not something to mention to Yosuke, though.]

Why couldn't you talk?

[inthejunk]

There was a frog in my throat.

[Yosuke actually 'kero's, playfully, as if he's talking to Keigo or Nill. But he freezes up a second later, and kicks himself mentally. Damn it, that's too relaxed. He clears his throat again, and glares in the opposite direction for a split second, before he can get the usual mask of empty approachability to click into place again.]

[His whole countenance lends itself to being molded into whatever others prefer, when he can remember to keep it that way. Even if he wasn't concentrating so hard on himself, though, he wouldn't catch on to Shika's dilemma. He doesn't know that Shika will be going cold turkey soon, or what a terrible experience it will be.]

I mean...I was probably talking a lot, you know? I'm a greeter, so I have to greet people. It's like that.

[underachiever]

[Shikamaru actually smiles at Yosuke's stupid little croaking, though. And then he's about as embarrassed for smiling as Yosuke is for playing around, ducking his head.]

You should drink more tea while you're working.

[inthejunk]

It's no use, I always end up giving it away. Everyone looks so cold when they get here, you know?

[It's pretty horrible in Canada without a coat in the winter, dude. He would know.]

[underachiever]

You guys should keep a kettle in the dugouts. Just make enough for everyone.

[inthejunk]

Do you think they would go for that?

[Considering. The weather has been getting a little less horrible, lately, but he sure wouldn't mind.]

[underachiever]

Why wouldn't they?

[inthejunk]

No reason.

Uh, so you guys...you have a new apartment now, right? In spite of what Keigo thinks about it all being a big plot, I mean.

[underachiever]

Same place you saw before, the old factory. We still haven't really decorated or anything...

[But when would they, really, between his death and relapse and all that time he spent hiding away?]

[inthejunk]

Ew, really?

[Wait, crap.]

Uh! It's spring now, just the right season for painti-

[Oh. Oh, shit. He'd promised Nill that they would paint her little gloomy corner of the world, hadn't he?]

Hey, are you busy? Right now?

[Because you might be busy while you're sitting around smoking endlessly on the beach and listening to him babble. Clearly.]

[underachiever]

[He looks up at Yosuke.]

Uh, no?

[inthejunk]

Great! Let's go.

[What do you mean you can't read minds? Get UP, dude, the girls are waitting on this stuff...or like, the girl and Uryuu. Whatever. Just get up.]

[underachiever]

Where're we going?

[Yeah, he's not moving until he knows.]

[inthejunk]

[Always so suspicious, dude. When has Yosuke ever lead you wrong?]

[...That whole thing with getting angry vampires on your case doesn't count.]

To get the paint, where else?

[underachiever]

Paint..?

[inthejunk]

For Nill-san.

[Glance.]

And maybe some for Uryuu-san. But you should probably stick to boring colors with him.

[underachiever]

No way. If I even consider interior decorating without Uryuu present, he'll seriously shoot an arrow through my skull.

wow sorry thought I hit post...you know. HOURS ago. :|

[inthejunk]

[That gets a small grin. Yosuke debates briefly suggesting a new rug to replace the one he got sick on, but knowing Uryuu that's probably been done by now anyway. He nods. Yeah, dude, better not.]

You can help carry it, I guess.

[underachiever]

[Deadpan:]

Gee, thanks. Sounds like a load of fun.

[But he climbs to his feet finally. Because Yosuke asked him to, of course.]

[inthejunk]

[It'll be a blast, dude. Duh.]

[Yosuke springs up nimbly, full of energy as usual, even with the bags under his eyes. He's already babbling about paints, lucky you.]

Yellow for the kitchen, blue for the bedroom...a nice blue, though. Like the sky. She really likes the sky...

[underachiever]

[He shoves his hands in his pockets and walks along with Yosuke... at a slower pace, of course.]

Because there wasn't a real sky where we came from.

[inthejunk]

Yeah, that's what she said.

[Frown, pause.]

Or where she came from before that. She said she'd never seen sky until she got here.

[He squares his shoulders at that, and starts up again, quickening the pace.]

So I told her I'd paint her the sky.

[underachiever]

[Shikamaru's lips quirk into a faint smile.]

Good idea.

[He's actually motivated to speed up, too.]

[inthejunk]

Yeah. I've been practicing clouds, you know? In the froth for the coffee at work. The customers seem to like it, but I haven't figured out how to do it perfectly, yet. They always come out kind of...

[Sigh.]

You know. Coffee. But I'm sure I can figure it out when we have the paint for it.

[underachiever]

It'll probably be a lot easier with paint than it is with coffee.

[inthejunk]

Yeah, I think so, too.

[Cheerfully. And then, a bit less cheerfully. With a nervous glance to the side:]

So, if you're back, everything must be alright now. Right?

[underachiever]

Um...

[He hesitates, but not for long.]

Yeah. Yeah, things are getting better.

...Woah I could've sworn I replied to this. I'm the worst. Sorry!

[inthejunk]

They are?

[Yosuke can't help sounding surprised. His poker face isn't that great in the first place, and he's been sweating this. Is it really that easy to mend things, or at least to start them mending?]

[The idea that maybe it is puts a spring in his step.]

That's great. Just let me know if I can help or something. I'm not too busy.

[That's a lie, but just a little white lie. The dark circles under his eyes probably give him away anyhow, but keeping busy is better than going nuts, and in a place like this those seem to be the only options. Besides, he owes Shika his life and Uryuu a debt of gratitude. For them, he can make some time.]