RP Log: Akutsu & Dan

[hirudinean.livejournal.com]

Date: Saturday, Oct. 27
Rating: PG-13/R for Akutsu's ever-colorful language, some kissing, and a tiny grope?
Summary: As Dare mentioned, there is an incident with Akutsu at the Ryuhana festival. Dan manages to get him home and puts him to bed, but half-asleep Akutsu mistakes him for one of Arai's clones and much askasdj ensues. :D;;



Everything in Akutsu's head was now a jumbled blur.

How Dan had got them back to the mansion was beyond him. They must have walked...but he didn't remember doing so. He knew it was Dan at least...as low as he was shuffling with his arm around someone else's shoulders, it could only be the green midget. Or Zippy had gotten them home, but he couldn't smell the other mutant.

It slipped his mind that his senses didn't work this close to Dan.

He could vaguely recall walking into a building and something not...smelling right. It hadn't hit him until they'd left, with Dan running ahead to the next exhibit, but there had been a sudden punch of fear in him. It'd felt eerily like how he'd felt the moment he'd stepped off the plane into Tokyo and...someone hadn't been there. Certain parts of the memory were now strangely blank, but he was too busy trying to figure out what had happened to be concerned yet.

There'd been some long haired kid, that he remembered. The kid had been in his way, and he'd been too freaked out to wait for him to move. Someone had been talking to him...must have been the Kid or Zippy, but he'd attacked...and then something had happened.

He just couldn't remember what, and trying to recall it all was killing his head. He groaned low in his throat, felt the small arm around his waist move, and then he was falling back onto something soft. His bed. Dazed, his eyes slit open, seeing the familiar cracks in the ceiling, and an even more familiar face hanging over his.

"...Thanks Kid...", he managed to mumble, weakly ruffling the other's hair before starting to doze. Whatever had happened, he was drained as hell.

Dan didn't think festivals were actually supposed to go like that. They were supposed to be fun! And it had been - until something had gone funny with Akutsu-san, and there had been some kind of scuffle that Dan had arrived late at, because he'd bounced on ahead and hadn't realized that Akutsu-san wasn't three steps behind him like usual. And then one of the teachers or something had gotten mad and threatened them with really sharp metal claws. Dan hadn't known what to do, past pulling off his inhibitor and telling everyone as firmly as he could that nobody was supposed to hurt Akutsu-san. And then he'd helped the other back to the mansion, which had been really hard work, but it was Dan's fault he'd let something happen and it was the only way he knew of to make things better.

He'd finally gotten Akutsu to his bed, and was peering concernedly over when Akutsu spoke, ruffling his hair a bit before seeming to fall asleep. Dan frowned, his stomach feeling rather unsettled as he put the deactivated inhibitor on the dresser in Akutsu-san's room and perched himself on the bed next to the bigger boy's shoulder. This was all his fault, he thought miserably - he'd wanted to go so badly, and Akutsu-san had said he was coming and Dan had been really, really glad (he really liked spending time with Akutsu-san, more than anybody else), but then bad things had happened and now something was really wrong with Akutsu. And Dan felt responsible.

He felt the other's forehead, but he didn't feel too warm or too cold. He bent down to listen to his chest, but his heart was beating steadily and didn't seem to be going too fast. The other's breath ruffled Dan's hair a bit as he straightened and smoothed out the other's shirt, and Dan watched him doze a minute. He wanted to let Akutsu sleep, but he still didn't know what was wrong.

He shook the other's shoulder gently, leaning down a bit and whispering, "Akutsu-san? Akutsu-san, wake up a minute, I'm sorry..."

Akutsu wasn't so far under that he couldn't hear the words, and at the shaking his eyes opened just enough to peer up at the little green face hovering over his. "What?" he grumbled, just wanting to sleep and get away from the confusing circle of thoughts in his head. "Quit being sorry 'bout every damn thing", he managed to mumble before a yawn hit him. Stretching, his arms curled under his head in their usual fashion, raising his shirt enough to reveal a sliver of his stomach above his low-slung, ratty jeans.

"'M fine...just need a nap", he groused quietly, yawning again and shutting his eyes. "Head's fuckin' spinning...crash here if ya want, Kid..." He dozed a little again, senses dulled enough by Dan's proximity that he couldn't smell the smaller mutant's worry and guilt.

"But are you okay?" Dan insisted quietly, not really sure if he was going to get an answer or not, though no less concerned. He blushed as Akutsu-san's shirt rode up, trying to smooth it down again - he'd get cold otherwise, wouldn't he? The mansion's heating had been fixed and it was perfectly comfortable, but he wasn't sure Akutsu-san should lay around like that. He squirmed a little, sighing and resting his chin on the other's chest, both exasperated and worried. "You shouldn't go to sleep until I know you're okay," he insisted, though he wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or to Akutsu-san, at this point, given how likely Akutsu was to listen. Of course, Dan thought guiltily, he was going to sleep here tonight.

Except he wasn't feeling guilty for the right reasons at all, he felt, because he was feeling guilty more for the fact that he was really excited to be invited to stay in Akutsu's room, rather than feeling worried (though he was worried) over the other's state. Something bad had happened to Akutsu-san, and still all Dan could think about was that he'd never get to flop on him like this if Akutsu-san hadn't been so drowsy and not feeling good. Dan felt really bad taking advantage of that, but there it was. He wanted to flop on Akutsu-san and be asked to stay in his room and have his hair ruffled lots, but it was hard to justify how glad he felt to be able to do that, right now.

"If you want anything, I can go get some medicine," he murmured, because maybe if Akutsu-san was listening, he'd ask for something so Dan would have to get up and not stay flopped like this, because maybe it would be better that way. Dan was pretty sure that if Akutsu knew how much Dan wanted to flop on him and hug him and everything, he'd laugh and kick Dan out of his room. But at least that would be normal... Dan didn't feel normal at all right now.

Uttering a soft curse--the Kid kept interrupting his drowsy state--Akutsu didn't bother opening his eyes this time and tossed an arm over his eyes with a grunt. When he did speak, he lapsed back into American English and cursed again.

"Dammit, Dan...jus' fuckin' take a nap'r somethin'...tired..." His other arm dropped and yanked the smaller mutant without looking, pulling Dan up beside him to rest on the other pillow. He was tired enough not to pull his arm away when he was done, and it hung lax over Dan's side as Akutsu lay on his own and grumbled into his own pillow.

One more time and he might as well duct tape the Kid's mouth shut. If he had the energy to even get up and do that...

Dan didn't know much English at all - he heard his name come out amidst a string of words that sounded strange and guttural, but he got the gist of what Akutsu-san was trying to say when suddenly the other pulled him up beside him on the bed, leaving one arm hanging over Dan's side.

Dan barely suppressed a squeak, feeling his face heat up as he was suddenly faced with the side of Akutsu-san's head very close to his own. He blinked rapidly, several times, but he didn't really have the desire to move away - in fact, somehow being in this position felt very... safe. Even if the other hadn't sounded very happy; Dan smiled to himself in the dark, thinking that was okay, because even though Akutsu-san never really sounded very happy, even in Japanese, that didn't mean he wasn't.

Dan didn't exactly fall asleep - it was kind of hard, when he was too fascinated by the way Akutsu burrowed into his pillow a little bit in sleep or the way the other's arm would shift, minutely, every once in a while. But he must have dozed a bit, because suddenly he was opening his eyes and it seemed much later than it had been, though it was still dark inside and out. Dan pushed himself up a little, Akutsu's arm sliding down over his waist now. The other's hair had fallen across his face a bit while he slept, so Dan carefully tried to move the offending pieces of hair, giggling quietly to himself as he brushed his fingers through the rest of Akutsu's hair, almost like petting him. He was pretty sure if he ever tried to do this while the other was awake, he'd have his fingers bitten off. But his hair was really very soft, and it felt nice between Dan's fingers.

Though he was still mostly asleep, Akutsu's head turned slightly into the touches, enough so that his body followed, rolling over and burrowing into the warm body beside him, arm tightening around Dan's waist as the younger mutant was dragged and held close.

It seemed that despite Dan's proximity affecting his powers, Akutsu was simply, instinctively a snuggler.

Dan bit his lip to keep from grinning - Akutsu-san was really very cute when he was asleep, Dan decided, though he had to be careful, or he'd wake the other up, and he was sure if that happened he'd get kicked out of the room permanently. But Akutsu didn't seem to be waking up, and he seemed to like the fingers in his hair, so Dan kept it up, thinking that Akutsu maybe just needed someone to take care of him, sometimes. Sure, he was big and strong, but that didn't mean he had to be big and strong all the time, right?

Not that Dan was really very good at taking care of anyone, he supposed. But he really, really wanted to take care of Akutsu-san. Carefully, he trailed a few fingers down the other's scalp and over the back of his neck, stroking the skin there softly, almost laughing as he wondered if Akutsu-san could purr. But he wasn't a big kitty - more like a big puppy, right now, though that thought did make him laugh, quietly. "I always wanted a puppy," Dan whispered to himself - though he hadn't thought puppies came quite this large. Or quite so unwilling, because he was sure that when Akutsu-san woke up, he'd be back to normal. Or at least, Dan hoped so. He was still worried about Akutsu, because he still didn't know what had happened or what the other mutant had done. "I don't want you to be hurt," he told the sleeping Akutsu, quietly, stroking his shoulder the way he'd stroke a dog or cat, if he'd ever gotten the chance. Because he might never get the chance to do this again, even if that seemed awfully sad to think about.

Said 'puppy' could only say later that he was more than half asleep. All he felt was a warm, soft little body close to his, and fingers stroking his hair and neck.

And since no one in the house would dare do something like that with him, his sleep-fogged mind immediately supplied an answer. That damned brat Arai had sent another of his clones to tease him again.

Grunting slightly at the continued petting, he nuzzled closer, growling under his breath. "Know what you're up to, damn brat...not falling for it.." His senses didn't seem to be working; he couldn't figure out which clone it was by the smell. But he assumed it was Mika--the slut would have had his pants undone by now. So he did what he knew 'she' liked...pressing into the soft, warm neck and licking just beneath the jaw before nibbling the juncture between neck and shoulder.

Dan was about to protest that he wasn't up to anything - he was just trying to make Akutsu-san feel better - when the other pressed a little closer and Dan nearly squeaked at the completely foreign sensation of someone else's mouth on his neck. He managed to stifle the surprised sound at the last second, disguising it as a sharp intake of breath. It was - it was kind of strange, he thought – but what was stranger was that it felt... really nice. He felt a quiet laugh bubble past his lips, but it was more... because he was happy, not because anything was funny - though Akutsu's hair under his chin was kind of tickly.

Dan could only assume that because this felt nice, it meant Akutsu liked the petting - because that made sense, right? So he kept it up, stroking down Akutsu's neck and spine a bit, between his shoulders, squirming a little to get a bit more comfortable. He tilted his chin a bit, so that Akutsu could keep doing what he was doing if he wanted, because Dan... wanted him to keep doing it. It was kind of scary and nice and exciting and calming all at once.

Akutsu quickly switched gears. He knew damn well if he didn't nip it in the bud now, 'Mika' would likely start badgering him about some new shoes she saw somewhere...and she'd kill the rest of the nice drowsy buzz he had going at the moment.

So, with his own fingers drifting up to curl tight around what he believed to be brown locks of hair, his mouth moved up to steal across Dan's in an insistent kiss.

Any minute now and the damn brat would steal her back...

"Mmnfn?" Dan blinked - he'd gone to take a breath, and there had been something in the way - Akutsu-san's mouth, which was now covering his quite insistently, even as the other's fingers wound tightly – almost painfully - into his hair, so Dan couldn't move his head away even if he'd wanted to. He managed to breathe a little through his nose, fingers closing around the other's shirt for a little bit of purchase, but that didn't exactly solve the mystery of why Akutsu was suddenly kissing him - wasn't kissing for people who really liked each other?

Somewhere, in the farthest recesses of Dan's mind, he knew quite well that he wanted to take care of Akutsu-san because he liked him - because he liked being around him and he liked talking to him and everything, no matter what kind of a front the other put up. Dan didn't mind - Akutsu-san still treated him much better than he was used to being treated, because even if he treated Dan like a kid, he treated him like a normal kid. Not like a green one from Mars. But he wasn't stupid enough to think that just because Akutsu-san treated him like he treated everyone else, that that meant he liked him. Dan was pretty okay with liking someone who didn't like him back, because he hadn't quite figured out what came next, anyway.

But this was different. If this meant Akutsu-san didn't mind Dan liking him, that was good! So was Dan supposed to kiss back? How did he kiss back? Akutsu wasn't exactly giving him much room to do anything, he was being kind of... insistent. Dan tried to kiss back, not really sure if he was exactly doing it right, but maybe he'd do better with practice? He hoped so, he thought a bit embarrassedly, because he didn't want to be a bad kisser, if kissing was important for telling people how he felt.

Something was up.

Akutsu couldn't quite put his finger on it at first. There was the lack of the usual response he got to a kiss. And the response he did get was...hesitant at best. The body under his hands wasn't quite as he recalled. It seemed smaller, more compact somehow.

And the most damning of evidence so far: the person he was kissing was still there. No way in hell that brat Arai would allow him to have this much time with any clone, especially with him in control as he was. The rat bastard would have pulled Mika back by now...his hand was starting to rub her ass for shit's sake...

And it was at that realization that Akutsu cracked open his eyes.

Where he expected to see pale skin, he saw green. The hair he was clutching wasn't brown, but black. The eyes weren't a mocking brown, but he saw white under the eyelids.

He wasn't snacking on one of Arai's clones...he was kissing Dan.

He was kissing the Kid.

Akutsu froze in place, eyes widening to huge proportions as his head drew back to take it all in. It was still Dan, no matter how long he looked or how much he blinked.

Shit.

With the small green mutant still enfolded in his arms, Akutsu did something he'd never done before in his life.

He blushed. Hard. From the tips of his ears down past his neck, the brightest pink burned his skin. When he was able to move his lips, he managed to croak out a soft, "...D--Kid?...What...what the fuck..."

Dan's eyes had begun to slip shut as one of Akutsu's hands moved lower - he'd nearly squeaked again when it had started rubbing his behind, but somehow that, like the nibbling on his neck, felt good and he wanted Akutsu to keep doing it.

Until Akutsu stopped kissing him abruptly, and Dan opened his eyes to see Akutsu staring at him in what looked like horror.

Dan had seen horror on plenty of people's faces before. But he'd never thought he'd have seen it on Akutsu-san's. Not when he was looking at Dan.

"A-ah - I-I-I-I- I'm sorry!" Dan stuttered - something had gone terribly wrong, because Akutsu looked confused now too and he was blushing and it was making Dan blush too now, his cheeks suddenly felt really hot and he felt stupid. Really, really stupid.

"I d-didn't m-mean to but - um, um, it was my fault, I'm sorry!" Suddenly he felt like he was going to cry - but he didn't even know why, he just knew Akutsu-san hadn't... meant to kiss him. That was why he was so horrified - he hadn't meant to kiss Dan and he hadn't liked him. He'd thought he was kissing someone else, and that meant that Aktusu didn't like Dan the way that Dan thought he had. It kind of meant Dan had... trespassed upon something private, almost, and he suddenly felt really bad for liking it as much as he had. For wanting to like it. Maybe he'd just disgusted Akutsu-san and... and...

"I d-didn't mean... I didn't mean..." Dan wanted to melt through Akutsu's arms and run away and hide forever, only he couldn't, because he couldn't make any part of him move except his mouth, apparently, which had stopped spouting words at least, and he bit his lip and shut his eyes and tried to get himself to move enough to bend over in apology, hide his face so Akustu wouldn't get mad. "S-sorry... sorry." He was pretty sure he was going to be thrown out of the room - physically - in the space of another breath, and he tensed, thinking he deserved it.

Figuring out just what in the hell had happened was nearly impossible with the Kid stammering apologies at him. Akutsu nearly went cross eyed trying to not yell at the younger mutant, and sighed a little in relief when Dan trailed off into silence.

But now what the hell was he supposed to say? The Kid apologized for shit at the drop of a hat, and no way in hell would he have been at fault for this. But Akutsu wasn't really good at apologies...and the whole situation still had him reeling at best. First the shit at the festival--which he still felt unsettled about--and now...this.

Still feeling his ears burn, he carefully moved his hands, so he could awkwardly pat Dan's back. "...Not your fault", he muttered. Shit, he was damn lucky he'd woken up more before he'd done something really traumatizing to the Kid. Like...well, he didn't want to think about that either.

As much as he gave everyone else shit, Dan was the one person in the house he felt even halfway comfortable around. And as much as he spouted off about not caring about having friends...Dan was his first real friend. And he was appalled at being the one to fuck it up.

He was pissed...but it was aimed all at himself.

"Dammit, Kid...I thought you were one of the rat bastard's clones...", he managed a minute later, once he'd swallowed past the embarrassed lump in his throat. "...Guess you know better now than to get too close when I'm asleep, huh?" He didn't want to think about how nice it was to nuzzle up to a warm body. He damn well didn't need to feed into these pointless urges of his, no matter how...cuddly Dan seemed to feel in his arms.

The Kid wasn't a damn teddy bear, for fuck's sake!

Clones? Oh - one of Arai-san's clones, that must be what Akutsu-san meant. Did that mean he liked Arai-san like that? Dan could barely process that information, because he was honestly barely listening to what Akutsu-san had to say, because Akutsu-san didn't realize it was Dan's fault, not his. Dan hadn't exactly tried to stop Akutsu from doing anything - Dan had been the one to start it in the first place, really, and he was so, so embarrassed by that that it was hard to think about much else.

"No... no, it's okay. It's okay, I didn't, um, I didn't know a-and I think I s-started it so it's okay. I didn't mean to start it and I didn't mean to make you come with me to the festival and get hurt a-and I didn't mean... I should, um, go away so you can sleep and I'll stop bothering you." Dan hiccupped, trying hard not to look at Akutsu-san, and he gently pushed one of the other's long arms away, so he could slip off the bed to stand there, head down, staring at the floor.

"It's really not your fault, Akutsu-san. You didn't do anything I d-didn't like. It's okay if you're mad at me, it is my fault." He almost wanted Akutsu to get mad - he knew how to deal with Akutsu when he was mad, it made things normal for the other to curse and yell and... and anything but the way he was acting now.

Akutsu was out of the bed like shot. He had to clutch at the end of the bed a moment when a wave of dizziness came over him, but he shook it off long enough to growl, lunge forward and grab Dan by the arm, hauling him back from the doorway.

Dammit, he hated when the Kid got stupid like this. Backing Dan against the wall next to the door, he held onto his upper arm tight and shook him just a little, near snarling. "Look, goddammit! Don't start being a dumbass now. I don't give a shit what you did, it ain't your fault. Nothing from this whole fucking day, week, month or year has been your fault. Get that through your head!"

Still annoyed, especially with those huge white eyes staring up at him, he shook Dan once more before grabbing the little green mutant and giving him a rough, one armed hug. "Don't believe in pawing friends, Kid", he muttered gruffly. "So you're either a friend or prey I ain't gotten to yet. Got it?" He flicked Dan's nose a little to emphasize his point; he was too damn fond of the green boy to physically knock any sense into him.

Dan still didn't exactly believe Akutsu-san - he'd been asleep, he didn't know - but he could see that arguing the point wasn't going to do anybody any good. Akutsu was wrong, but, typically, he wasn't going to admit it. Dan almost laughed at that, but that would've been the really wrong thing to do. So instead he shook his head and ventured a look up at Akutsu.

"Well if it's not my fault, then it's not your fault either, desu!" Dan insisted, finding a surge of bravery in the wake of Akutsu's anger - because at least when Akutsu got annoyed, it made things normal, and normal was easier to deal with. Normal wasn't Akutsu staring at him like he had been, with big wide eyes, looking like he'd made a really big mistake.

The one-armed hug that followed wasn't normal, but it wasn't so not-normal that Dan lost it again. He thought he understood what Akutsu-san was saying, even if he wasn't sure he liked it. But he wasn't going to do anything to make things worse. Ever, ever again. "I got it. Forget anything happened. It's okay." It would be okay. He wouldn't tell anyone - it had been his fault anyway, and now he was still embarrassed. He guessed liking people like that was still a little out of his league. Maybe it always would be.

"You need to go back to sleep," Dan finally said. "You still don't feel good and you need to rest. I'll... um, I'll go so maybe your powers will help you feel better." He realized that he might be the reason Akutsu wasn't recovering - if he had any small healing factor at all, Dan staying was only suppressing it. And that wasn't good for his friend.

"Hold up."

An arm planted between Dan and the door prevented the other mutant from escape. The sleep had done Akutsu some good, and even if he was feeling a little off kilter still, his mind was sharpening now that it was awake. And something had just occurred to him.

He was dying for a smoke. But other than that, he'd just happened to recall hands stroking him, and hesitant kisses back. Not that he believed Dan had initiated shit--the Kid just wasn't that way, right?--but why in the hell...

"There a reason you didn't sock the shit outta me for touchin' you that way, Kid?"

Dan had never felt mentally backed into a corner by Aktusu-san before. Now, however, he suddenly did, and he suppressed the urge to duck under the arm and run away. He'd tried to explain, but it hadn't come out in the right words, and he didn't think Akutsu wanted to hear the truth. If he wanted to kiss someone else, it wasn't good to interfere with that.

Dan's mouth opened but nothing came out for a minute; he felt his cheeks go warm again and stared at Akutsu's elbow because it was easier than staring at Akutsu's face. He couldn't tell the truth... but he couldn't lie, either. What was he supposed to say?

"U-um... it... it didn't feel bad," he finally settled on, the words barely coming out of his mouth - if Akutsu-san had been any farther away, he wouldn't have heard them. "It d-didn't feel bad and I l-like y- I liked it and... um... you wouldn't hurt me."

It was a faltering compromise between the truth and a lie, but it was better than outright telling one or the other. Dan wanted to say that he wasn't a kid - he wanted to say that just because he was small and he looked like a Martian and he'd never had any friends before he was fifteen didn't mean he didn't understand anything or didn't want people to touch him that way. Especially Akutsu. But he couldn't say that, it would mess things up.

Dammit. Now he really wanted a cigarette. He wasn't one for reading between lines or some shit, but Dan was probably the worst liar in the free world, and Akutsu actually managed, in his state, to add everything up.

And it embarrassed the hell out of him. But fuck if he was gonna make the kid feel bad about it. He just didn't get it. The hell did the kid see in him to want to be kissed? The whole thing with that fucking tease, Arai, was like a game. But that didn't mean that most of the time he thought he was worth anything. Especially not for someone as nice and super naive like the Kid.

So he attempted to be diplomatic, as much as he could be. Keeping his arm where it was, he leaned in and flicked Dan on the forehead. "If I hadn't woken my ass up, you couldn't say that. Fuck, you wanna learn to kiss or something Kid, you could ask or some shit. Dunno why the fuck you'd wanna try something like that with me. I ain't exactly great with...trying to be slow and careful and shit."

W-well, it's - um, it's not something I th-thought you were supposed to ask about," Dan stammered, his brain trying to figure out what exactly Akutsu was saying. "I thought you just did or - or didn't." And he definitely fell into the 'didn't' category - who'd ever want to kiss him, anyway? He'd never thought Akutsu would've, and he'd been really, really sure, but he almost sounded like... he wouldn't mind? But at the same time - Dan shook his head, mostly to clear it. Everything was so confusing.

He was sure that Arai-san's clones never asked. And he was sure that Akutsu-san never asked. He didn't... really have much experience, beyond that, except for what he'd read in books.

And why did Akutsu make it sound like it was something people had to be careful about? Dan wasn't sure, but he thought that it didn't really matter - was there some kind of difference, between slow and fast? Did it really matter a lot? "B-but I wouldn't care what it was like. If - if it wasn't slow or whatever, that'd be okay, because it'd still be you. H-however you'd... it'd be okay with me - "

He stopped, mouth hanging open, and realized that he'd pretty much said what he'd been trying not to say. The part that would mess things up. He blinked, rapidly, feeling like he might cry again, but he couldn't - Akutsu didn't like crying, he was sure.

"I'm s-sorry, he apologized again, quickly. "I, um, I know no one'd ever want to kiss me. You already have somebody else you w-want to kiss. It's okay. It's - it's okay. I should go." He'd already made more than a mess of things, today.

"Goddammit, just wait a minute!" To forestall Dan, he reached over and slapped the door shut. Fuck, the thing had been open this whole time. Guess he must have dragged the Kid into bed with him when they got back; Dan didn't usually leave his door open when they hung out.

Okay, so he'd gotten it wrong. Way wrong. So wrong that he might as well tattoo a large L to his forehead. And it was gonna take a few minutes to wrap his mind around this...

"I need a smoke", he ground out and moved back to the bed, slipping his hand underneath to catch the carton he'd stashed under there. Usually crushed them a little, but it kept that damn Arai from sending his clones over just to nick his cigarettes. Damn thief. Akutsu had swiped them from the liquor store fair and square. He lit one up after fumbling his lighter from his pants and sucked in a long drag, waiting for the nicotine to do its work.

He saw movement in the corner of his eye and barked. "Don't move until I figure this shit out!" Not that there was anything to figure out, really. But he needed a minute to absorb. Hell, maybe he'd had plenty of people interested in him for one night stands and the occasional rough fuck...but no one in their right minds confessed to liking him.

He couldn't decide if that just made Dan weird or dumb as a load of bricks. And since calling the Kid dumb pissed him off, he had to settle for damn weird.

Dropping to sit on the edge of the bed, his arms dangling from his knees as he smoked, he peered across the room at Dan. "So...what? You got some sorta crush on me? Is that it?" His cigarette drooped as he frowned slightly. "Can't say you've got the greatest taste, Kid."

Dan jumped as Akutsu slammed the door shut, not frightened but certainly startled. He nodded weakly as Akutsu announced that he needed a cigarette and dug around underneath the mattress for a pack. He watched Akutsu breathe the smoke in and out for a few moments; that always seemed to calm him, Dan had noticed. And it made him smell... well, it was a mix between good and bad, because the smoke always smelled acrid but when it mixed with Akutsu's scent, it just... smelled like him.

But thinking about what Akutsu smelled like definitely wasn't going to help in this situation. Dan still thought he should go and leave Akutsu alone - he'd stared moving towards the door again when Akutsu saw and commanded him to stop. Dan froze, the hand that had been reaching for the handle falling back to his side, fingers curling into a fist because he felt like he needed something to hold on to, but there was nothing here. He wasn't going to interrupt again if Akutsu was thinking. Though Dan was pretty sure there wasn't much to think about. He liked Akutsu, but Akutsu liked somebody else and that was that.

Akutsu spoke again, and Dan realized he really had figured everything out. He hung his head and nodded a bit. "Y-yeah, I guess that's it," he admitted - there was no use denying it, when he'd pretty much said that himself a moment ago. "But it's not - um, I won't do anything or mess anything up. It's okay. I won't tell anyone."

But there was still something that bothered him. What did Akutsu mean, he didn't have good taste? Dan wasn't offended for himself, but somehow he was offended for Akutsu. It didn't matter what everybody else thought! Akutsu-san might not act very nice sometimes, but he was just being himself. And there was nothing wrong with that. Before he could really stop himself, Dan found himself speaking again.

"It's - I d-don't care about taste. What's so bad about you? There's nothing wrong with you, desu!"

Akutsu blinked at Dan's outburst, a wry smile spreading across his face a moment later. "Christ...aren't you cute. And a little fuckin' blind. There's plenty wrong with me, Kid." Not that he usually gave a shit about his own flaws, but he knew they were there. And he knew they were the kind of flaws that did not attract.

Taking the cigarette out of his mouth, he exhaled the smoke in a thick plume and moved onto his next question. "And what the hell's this shit about me wantin' to kiss someone else? You think I sneak chicks into this dump or something?" Arai flashed across his mind and he almost snarled. "And if you're gonna tell me I have a thing for that asshole tease and his band of merry cocktease clones..."

"I don't care," Dan said, quietly but not without belligerence. Akutsu-san was fine the way he was. He'd shown Dan how to sneak into places and how to swipe things and he'd even taken Dan with on an important mission once! What wasn't there to like? Sure, he was kind of crass and more than a little vulgar, definitely violent sometimes, but Dan didn't care. It was kind of exciting, to hang out with someone who was like that. Akutsu-san was Akutsu-san. And that was that.

He almost did open the door and run out at the outburst about Arai-san and his clones, though - Akutsu sounded angry again, and Dan wasn't sure what about. It had made so much sense a minute ago. "B-but, you said you thought I was one of them, a-and I know that's the only reason you... um, you did anything, right?" So that had to mean that Akutsu-san liked them, right? Dan was getting a bit confused. "P-people kiss people they like... right?" Did he have something wrong? He couldn't be that far off - not when he knew he liked Akutsu-san and he knew that he'd liked kissing him.

The temper subsided a little at Dan's confusion. "I dunno how the fuck to even begin explaining this shit to you", he griped. He just didn't think about shit like this. And he definitely wasn't into examining how he felt about anything.

And he didn't know what to say about Arai. Sometimes he convinced himself to gut the next clone that came at him and stop letting the jackass get to him, and the next moment he had the irrational and unquenchable urge to hunt him down and fuck him into next year.

What the hell that meant, he didn't know. But he sure as hell knew they didn't like each other. More like he had an fixation on Arai's ass, and the other had a fixation on sexually torturing and abusing him.

You know, on second thought, fuck it. He was gutting the next clone. And he hoped the prick felt every bit of it.

"Expected you to be a clone 'cause that’s what the bastard does. He sends his clones out here just to fuck with me. Fuckin' fondle me or kiss me...they're all cockteases. He makes 'em disappear before I get anywhere..." His frustration was evident; he ground out his nearly gone cigarette on his jeans and lit another one up without missing a beat.

"That don't mean that we fuckin' like each other, yanno", he eyed Dan through the smoke. "That's just sex. Ain't gotta like someone to fuck them."

Dan frowned. That sounded... complicated. Kind of. Or at least not very nice - it wasn't nice to tease people, and he was pretty sure it was even worse to tease somebody about something like that. He didn't like the idea of Arai-san teasing Akutsu-san like that... but maybe Akutsu did like it, even if he didn't like Arai-san? Or he would've done something about it, right?

"... Oh. O-okay." Dan tried to understand - so sex was different than liking someone? Was that better or worse? "Sorry... I didn't mean to say you liked... um, them, I just... I just didn't know." Now he felt stupid. Maybe he was just a kid, who didn't know anything. Liking the way Akutsu-san had been touching him had nothing to do with understanding anything.

He opened his mouth to say something else, but quickly realized that was a bad idea. It would just get him yelled at again. He wanted to say that wasn't fair. He wanted to say that if Arai was making Akutsu so frustrated, that why wouldn't he give Dan a chance? Dan didn't care what Akutsu did - it didn't have to be slow or nice or anything. And he wouldn't tease him, he'd gladly help Akutsu in any way he could, no matter what that meant.

But if he said that, Akutsu would just yell at him and kick him out of his room and say he was being stupid. But he didn't know what else to say, that wasn't an apology. He felt stupid enough for making Akutsu explain himself, when he shouldn't have to, especially not to someone like Dan. So he just nodded dumbly, breathing in the smoke, wishing he
could blame it for the way his eyes wanted to water. "S-should I just go, then? Or do you want me to stay?"

Calmer now after his second cigarette, Akutsu leaned back on his elbows on the bed. "Might as well stay", he muttered, feeling moody and unsure of what he wanted to do about this. While he loathed talking it out, if he let the kid escape right now everything would just stay fucking weird between them and they'd never talk about it again. It'd fuck everything up. And he hated that more.

"Look...", he sighed and interrupted himself long enough to grunt at Dan. "Sit your ass over here already, will ya?" With Dan within reach now, he somehow felt more relaxed. Kid wasn't as likely to bolt now. "Look...I like you fine. Just don't know about liking you that way, yanno? Usually I'd probably say what the hell and give it a shot or whatever...but I ain't good enough for you and I'd just fuck things up." He saw that Dan was going to argue and cut him off.

"I just like you too much to screw shit up, Kid. If you can understand that. And I'm not really interested in gettin' anymore green friends, so I can't fuck us up, right?" He reached over and ruffled the other's hair, hoping even a little of this was helping. "And shit...next time you feel like layin' one on me, just gimme a little warning first, okay?" , he teased with a sharp grin. "That way I don't think you're the rat bastard and shove you outta the bed."

Dan wasn't sure staying really was the best course of action. But Akutsu-san seemed pretty insistent, and Dan wasn't about to contradict him. He shuffled over to the bed and sat beside the other, who'd finished smoking and was now reclining against the pillows; Dan was careful not to touch him, just in case, because he still wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, armed with this new - confusing - information.

He thought he understood what Akutsu-san was trying to say. In a way, it was really nice - that he really did like Dan enough as a friend to want to treat him right. But there was also the part about not being good enough, and Dan didn't like that part at all - but when he opened his mouth to say something, Akutsu hurried on and didn't let him get in a word edgewise. He'd probably suspected (correctly) Dan was going to argue that point.

And maybe the rest of it was... disappointing, but Dan supposed it wasn't really. He shouldn't have gotten his hopes up, anyway. He really did know that someone like Akutsu-san wouldn't want what Dan wanted. Not with Dan. But being friends was important – more important, maybe, than being anything else.

At least the hand ruffling his hair felt nice - and normal.

Dan grinned a little. "It's not so far from the bed to the floor," he said, hoping that if they could laugh about it, that meant everything was okay. "But I wouldn't do something like that, if you think it'd be weird. I like being friends with Akutsu-san." He nodded decisively. He didn't want to mess anything up either. So he'd try his hardest not to, because there was still a lot he didn't understand. "If that's what Akutsu-san wants to be, then it's okay with me."

Dan's attempt at joking made Akutsu's lips twitch up, and the earnestness in which the little green mutant claimed to only want what he wanted made him wonder just what it would be like to have someone willing to be with him. No games, no bullshit posturing or treating him like dirt...just someone who cared.

And while Dan didn't exactly inspire raging lust in him like Arai did, he was more comfortable around the kid, and liked him a helluva lot better. But a lot of that was also wrapped up in feeling protective of Dan, and Akutsu had to wonder how he'd feel about it away from Dan's influence, with his power in full force.

Dan was a friend, his best friend. Dan was part of his 'pack'. A very important part. Whether it could go any further...

Curious now, Akustu studied Dan for a moment, rolling over to crawl over the younger mutant. This was such a bad fucking idea, he knew, but he also wanted to know...something else. "Just...wanna check something, Kid. Didn't pay much attention before..."

Trying to be more careful than he had earlier, Akutsu dipped his head down, his nose nuzzling Dan's cheek before he brushed his lips down on the other's mouth.

Dan saw the way Akutsu-san's mouth twitched, and he grinned wider. Friends was okay - maybe it wasn't so bad, really. It sounded like things were complicated enough with Arai-san and his clones, and Dan didn't want to throw a wrench in anything if he could help it. Akutsu-san already had a lot of things to worry about, and Dan didn't want to be one of them.

But then Akutsu-san moved, and crawled over him; Dan blinked up, a little confused as to what he was doing. But he said he wanted to check something? Dan nodded almost imperceptibly, Akutsu-san could check whatever he wanted, but Dan didn't realize what he meant until he was leaning down. Dan's mouth opened slightly, about to say something, but nothing came to mind before Akutsu-san nuzzled his cheek briefly, and kissed him again - in a very different manner than he had before.

... Okay, maybe there was a difference between fast and slow - Dan's lips curled up involuntarily as Akutsu's breath tickled his cheek, even as he spent a few seconds being confused - after all, Akutsu-san had just said that he didn't like Dan like that. But he suddenly realized that it wasn't fair if Akutsu-san did all the kissing. Even if he was just checking - Dan should help, right? He might not get to do this ever again. He shifted a little, trying to kiss back, softly, because he still wasn't sure exactly how to do it, but this didn't seem so hard. But he also didn't want to mess anything up.

The kid definitely needed to practice, was Akutsu's first thought. It wasn't bad, or even weird now. It was...comfortable. Nice even. He might not want to fling Dan down onto the floor and bone him into the wood, but he couldn't say there wasn't anything there.

And fuck, that was just confusing him more. What, did he have to two fucking personalities or something? Away from the green mutant, his thoughts always stayed on Arai, with an intentness that bordered on sheer possessiveness. But when he was around the kid...

Well, it was a helluva lot different.

Deciding that he was too damn tired and confused to deal with this now, he ended things with one last little lick of Dan's lips. Collapsing to his side and dragging the other back with him, Akutsu was quiet for a moment, more content in that moment than he could ever remember being, just like this. When he spoke finally, he ruffled Dan's hair and gave him a crooked smirk. "Need practice." Sobering, he looked at him seriously.

"Just...lemme think about it for awhile, okay?"

Dan felt a little strange as Akutsu-san pulled away but then rolled over onto his side and dragged Dan with him, ruffling his hair. He grinned a little bit at the crack about practice - well, it wasn't like he'd kissed anybody before! But Akutsu-san didn't seem mad, or even bothered, even if his expression did little to hide the fact that he still seemed pretty confused.

"It's okay," Dan assured him. He felt like that was the best thing to say, even if he wasn't really sure what was going on himself. He didn't want Akutsu-san to worry - if he didn't want to do anything, Dan wasn't going to be mad. He would support Akutsu-san either way, because he really didn't want to lose his friend over something as silly as wanting to kiss him all the time. So he'd wait and see what Akutsu wanted, and he decided he'd be happy either way.

"But now you have to go to sleep," he commanded as firmly as he could, figuring that if Akutsu wanted him to stay then he'd get comfortable too, shifting so he was comfortable next to the bigger boy. "Don't worry about anything, okay? And I'll make you breakfast in the morning!" The fact that something bad had happened to Akutsu tonight still worried Dan, and he was going to make sure his friend got through it before he even started to think about anything else.