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It’s been a few weeks since the funeral beef with Adam, and things haven’t really changed much. Reki and Langa still skate to school together, then go to work at Dope Sketch. They still spend Friday nights at S, and Reki still feels inadequate, and he’s still trying to work on it, but it’s a slow process.
It’s during one of those Friday nights that Miya nudges Reki out of his thoughts by asking, “Who are you betting on?”
Reki looks up at the screen - Joe and Cherry are arguing about something; he vaguely processes the words “gorilla” and “princess” floating around.
“What are they even wagering?” Langa asks over Reki’s shoulder.
“Do you really want to know?” Reki mumbles.
The corner of Langa’s mouth quirks up at that, but he shoves Reki’s shoulder. That’s the closest Reki’s gotten to mentioning what they saw at Sia La Luce last week. Reki can feel the blush spreading across his cheeks as he thinks about it, so he clears his throat and says, “Cherry’s gonna win. It’s his first race back - he totally upgraded Carla when he was recovering.”
“Rooting against Joe?” Shadow walks up to them and slings his arm around Reki. “You’re crazy, kid.”
Miya and Shadow’s words fade into background noise as Reki looks up at the screen. In the middle of their arguing, Joe smiles at Cherry. And it’s not a smirk; not the result of landing a particularly good insult. It’s a fond smile, and Reki can tell Cherry’s struggling not to smile back, even under the mask. Soon, they return to their arguing, but Reki’s lost in thought.
He’s been thinking about last Friday nonstop since it happened. Langa and he were trying to be helpful by bringing their plates to the sink, but they didn’t realize that Cherry and Joe…weren’t just cleaning the dishes. It took Reki waaay too long to realize what was happening - cause there’s no way that’s Cherry’s hand on Joe’s arm, no chance that’s Cherry leaning against the counter. But it was , astonishingly. They caught Joe and Cherry making out in the back room of Sia La Luce.
After a moment - the longest moment of Reki’s life, potentially - Langa tried to walk out, hitting Reki with the door, and they were caught. Reki immediately started mumbling, “I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, we won’t say anything, obviously-” as Langa pulled him out the door.
After an awkward conversation about their relationship and their choice to keep it a secret for the time being, Reki thought he was in the clear. But Joe held him back for a second after Langa and Cherry went outside. He asked, “You okay man? You didn’t say much.”
“Yeah!” Reki answered far too quickly, his voice coming out like a squeak. He tried again. “Yeah. Yes. I just-um, yeah. I’m fine.”
Joe didn’t have to say anything - he simply stood there, arms crossed, eyebrows raised knowingly, and Reki caved. He mumbled, “I just…I thought you liked girls?”
Joe looked like he might laugh for a split second, but he refrained, and Reki’s glad because he actually might have spontaneously combusted if he’d laughed. Instead, Joe put a hand on Reki’s shoulder and said, “You can be into both, Reki.”
It’s the way he said it - like he’s seeing into Reki’s fucking soul - that made Reki nod and jet out the door, mumbling something about catching up to Langa.
Later that night, when Langa was already asleep, Reki’s phone lit up. Curious as to who texted him this late, especially with Langa asleep literally five feet away, he immediately checked the notification. It was Joe, sending him a link to some website. He clicked the link and immediately saw the word “bisexuality” in the article title, so he closed to tab as fast as he could. Checking to make sure Langa really was asleep, he took a deep breath and texted Joe back a simple, Thanks, man. Then he spent the next two hours reading the article and wondering what it all meant.
“Reki.” Langa’s voice pulls him out of his thoughts. “You okay?”
He looks back at the screen and sees that the race has already begun. Cherry calculates a turn while Joe ramps up his speed - Cherry notices and commands Carla to switch to a long board. Reki runs a hand through his hair and says, “Yeah, just spaced out, sorry.”
Miya narrows his eyes but doesn’t say anything. He must look pretty bad, if Miya skipped the opportunity to give him shit.
Someone bumps into Reki’s side, and he hears a high-pitched voice over his shoulder say, “Shit, sorry Kyan!”
He turns around and sees a girl he vaguely recognizes from school, but not from S. What’s her name? Goya, maybe? “It’s okay, no worries. I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before!”
She laughs a little bit, and Reki notices her hand float up to her hair, playing with the end of her braid. “Yeah, my sister just got me a pin. I’m not good enough to race yet - not nearly as good as you - but I’m working on it.”
Reki asks, “You skate?” at the same time as Langa turns around and says, “Reki’s boards are the best.”
The girl blushes and says, “Oh, hi Hasa-I mean, Snow!”
Reki hits Langa’s chest and says, “Langa, she skates too!”
Lanaga glances down at the board in her hands, and Reki feels his cheeks redden. “Oh, I guess you could tell.”
The girl says, “But I’m still just learning.”
Reki replies without even thinking. “I could help teach you, if you want. I taught Snow here, so.”
He nudges Langa, who just looks for a second before saying, “Reki’s a great teacher.”
Some other girl - probably her sister - calls from somewhere in the crowd. “Niko! You’re missing Cherry’s race!”
Yes, that’s her name! Gima Niko - she’s a second year, too.
Gima smiles at the boys and says, “That’s my cue to get back. But my sister is having a party tomorrow for some S people. You should come, if you want.” She fishes a paper with an address written on it out of her bag and hands it to Reki, looking expectantly.
Reki looks at Langa, but instead of getting an answer he just shrugs. Reki rolls his eyes and says to Niko, “We’ll be there. Thanks, Gima!”
She smiles and goes to find her sister in the crowd. Without turning from the screen, Miya says, “Dude, that girl likes you.”
Reki sputters. “What? No she doesn’t.”
He looks at Langa for backup, but Langa just shrugs. “I think she does, too. She always smiles at you in the hallways.”
“She’s just being friendly!”
“I guess we’ll find out at the party,” Langa says mildly.
“Would you shut up?” Shadow grumbles. “They’re already at the warehouse.”
Everyone turns back to the screens. It’s a tight race - Cherry’s more calculated, but Joe has pure strength. At the last second, Joe pulls ahead by the tiniest bit for the win. Of course, he starts gloating as soon as he hits the finish line, surrounded by his groupies.
Langa sighs. “Looks like it’s gonna be awhile until we get food.”
“Is food all you think about?” Miya asks.
“No,” Langa replies as Reki says, “He also thinks about skateboarding.”
“And snowboarding,” Shadow adds.
“And Reki,” Miya concludes with a smirk.
Reki immediately feels the blush spreading across his face, but Langa’s unfazed as he responds, “See? I think about more than food. Just not right now.”
“Whatever, dude,” Reki says. “We can just eat at my place.”
So they say their goodbyes and head back to the Kyan house, the words and Reki echoing in his head all the while.
~~~~
“Dude, I found some old beers stashed in the back of the fr-“
Reki quickly attempts to close his mouth from where it’s dropped open. He didn’t realize Langa was changing into something else for the party, but now he’s buttoning the last button on his sleeveless shirt. Ugh, now his muscles will be on display all night, and everyone will be all over him even more than usual.
“Reki?” Langa’a staring at him, a bit concerned. “You okay?”
“Yeah man. Sorry. Um, I got these, if we want them.”
Reki puts the beers down and starts rifling through his closet, trying not to stare at Langa’s arms, or just at Langa in general. Trying not to think about how a hickey would look if it just barely peeked over his collar, how they’d make eye contact at the party and Reki would blush and everyone would know-
Woah. Calm down, man.
It’s not like this is the first time he’s thought something like that. It happens every so often, when Langa hits his arm after a joke, or wears that shirt, or pretty much just…exists around him. And it’s only gotten worse since last week, when Joe gave him the vocabulary to describe what he’s feeling.
Reki takes a deep breath and turns back around, a random shirt in hand. Langa’s holding one of the beers, looking at the label, and Reki can feel himself blushing a bit but forges on anyway. “Yeah, Um, I figured there would be people drinking at this, so…but you don’t have to if you don’t-“
Before Reki can get too panicked, Langa uses his shirt to twist off the cap. He takes a sip without much of an expression, then gestures to Reki. “Want some?”
“Sure!”
Reki focuses on not making a face while he sips. The beer doesn’t taste that bad, but it’s still not great. He just keeps drinking until Langa pulls the bottle back. “Woah, dude. You drank, like, half the thing.”
Reki smiles brightly. “Isn’t that the point of tonight?”
Langa seems a bit surprised, but smiles back. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do this.”
And he chugs the rest of the bottle down in one go.
~~~~
This is…not what Reki was expecting. He thought Gima’s sister would be in an apartment, and there would be a few S people hanging around on some couches, and he would fit right in because he’d probably made boards for some of them.
But it’s clear from the start that this will not be a chill night. For starters, the address leads to an actual house. A huge house, really, close to the beach. The furthest thing from a college apartment.
And second, the place is packed with people as soon as they walk in. People Reki absolutely doesn’t recognize - they must be college students or something. He looks around for Gima, and Langa laughs. “I doubt we’ll find her, with all these people. Come on.”
Normally, Reki’s thoughts would start racing at this moment - would it be rude to not find their host? And what was he going to talk about with these college kids? But something - probably the beers he’d already consumed, he realized belatedly - is smoothing out his edges, making his thoughts race a little less fast.
And Langa’s pulling him along as if he knows his way around, which he obviously doesn’t but he’s on the hunt for something. And he seems to find it when they walk through an archway into the kitchen.
Langa slides in between two clumps of people to get to the counter, and Reki follows with some mumbled apologizes to the people he bumps along the way. There’s an overwhelming amount of half-full bottles of alcohol, and Reki whisper-shouts, “Oh. Do you know what’s the best?”
“Yeah,” Langa says simply, grabbing a white bottle with a simple label.
“Wait, you do?! I thought we’d both be clueless.”
“I went to a few parties in Canada,” Langa says as he pours the clear liquid into two shot glasses, handing one to Reki.
Reki eyes it warily, then brings the glass to his lips. But Langa stops him. “Woah, slow down. We need chasers.”
“Chasers?”
Langa roots around the bottles and finds some kind of soda. “Yeah. It washes out the taste.”
“Why drink something if you need another thing to wash it away?”
“Cause getting drunk is fun.” Now Langa hands him a cup of soda and clinks the shot glasses. “ Salud .”
“ Kanpai, ” Reki echoes, then brings the drink to his lips.
It tastes like shit. It only takes a moment to hit his throat, and Reki swears he’s drinking gasoline. This is so, so different from the beers. He swallows and sputters, looking up at Langa incredulously. Langa’s just drinking the chaser, looking at Reki with mild amusement. “Drink the soda, you’ll feel better.”
Reki follows his advice as Langa reaches for the awamori. “You want more ?”
Langa laughs a bit, and even though it was short, it makes Reki smile brilliantly. He loves Langa’s laugh - it’s rare, but it happens, and Reki takes a certain pride in being the one that causes it most of the time.
Langa smiles back, and hands the shot to Reki, their fingers brushing together for a moment. “Take your time. When you’re ready, I’ll show you.”
“You’re crazy, Langa.”
“We already knew that.”
He does have a point - Langa’s an adrenaline junkie. With snowboarding, with S…he’s told Reki so many stories about the amusement parks he used to visit with his Dad, too. The thought makes Reki smile; he and Langa have plans to go to an amusement park soon.
“Okay, teach me.”
Langa stares determinedly at Reki. “So, you take two deep breaths right before, and before you exhale, you shoot it down. Then, don’t breathe before drinking your chaser. Okay?”
“Okay. Let’s do this!”
“Three, two, go!”
Reki follows Langa’s advice, and he barely tastes the burning liquid this time. He can feel the heat sliding down into his stomach, but he doesn’t cough.
Langa gives him a thumbs up, and that gives Reki the confidence to reach for the awamori. But Langa stills his hands. “Woah there. Let’s give it a minute.”
Reki raises an eyebrow. “Chicken?”
“No, I just don’t want to carry you home tonight.”
“I’ll be fine, I-”
“Reki.” Langa grabs his wrist as Reki reaches for the awamori again, and he’s using that same firm voice he did back at the beach when he told Reki to slow down. “Stop.”
He immediately flushes, the red spreading across his face unrelated to the alcohol. Reki finds that he likes that voice a little too much, and normally he’d make some kind of joke and play it off, but he doesn’t this time. Maybe it’s the beer he had before he got here. Maybe it’s something else lowering his inhibitions. Regardless of the reason, instead of turning away, Reki looks up at Langa and simply says, “Uh-Okay.”
Reki’s leaning against the counter, so Langa’s even taller than usual, and he still has his hand on Reki’s wrist. They stare at each other for a few moments, and Reki takes in just how icy the blue in his eyes is.
Langa laughs a bit. “It’s so easy to make you blush.”
Reki turns his head away. “Well that’s not gonna get me to stop.”
“Good.” With the gentlest pressure, Langa grabs his chin and turns it back to him. “I like it.”
Reki makes some kind of choked noise from the back of his throat, but before he can respond - and honestly, how would he even respond to that? - Gima runs up to the pair. She’s clearly having a good time, already flushed and stumbling. “Reki! Langa!
“Hi, Gima,” Reki says with a laugh, trying to hide the fact that he’s already missing Langa’s hand on his chin, bemoaning the fact that he backed away. “Seems like you’re having fun.”
“A blast! I’m so glad you guys could make it.”
Langa starts to say something, but Gima cuts him off by turning fully to Reki and poking him in the chest. “Reki. Reki, Reki, Reki. You should call me Niko.”
“Okay, sure.”
She spins around and pokes Langa as well. “You too.”
“Alright, Niko.” Langa smiles a bit and shakes his head at her. “I’m going to find the bathroom, I’ll be right back.”
“It’s upstairs, third door on the right!” Niko calls after his retreating body. Then she spins back to Reki, a glint in her eye. “I think it’s time for us to play some Smash. Loser drinks!”
And Reki is pulled the opposite way through the crowd, the alcohol warming his body already.
~~~~
Reki’s brain allows itself to be distracted by Smash for a solid fifteen minutes, but he’s soon wondering where Langa went. The drink Niko made for him was really good - it was something with lemon - and he wants Langa to try it. So he sits up from the couch where Niko has been moving closer and closer to him, and he announces, “I’m going to find Langa.”
She smiles brightly at him. “Have fun! Yo, Sumi! Come take Reki’s place in Smash!”
He doesn’t wait to see if someone takes his place, instead jetting off through the crowd to the stairs.
Walking is…an interesting experience, at the moment. Reki feels warm all over, and it’s taking a little longer than usual to connect his thoughts to his actual body. But that’s not a bad thing - actually, it’s quickly becoming his favorite part of drinking. Normally his thoughts are racing at a mile a minute, and now the only thought occupying his brain is getting Langa to try this drink.
But he can’t find Langa near the bathroom, or in the hallway at all. So he retraces his steps to the living room, politely greeting the people that recognize him but moving along as soon as he can.
Reki almost doesn’t see Langa as he passes through the kitchen, but the blue hair is kind of noticeable. He was expecting Langa to be standing out of the way, maybe nursing a drink or something, but definitely not talking to someone.
And, even more shocking - Langa’s laughing. He can hear it from across the loud room like some kind of siren song, and Reki feels his heart squeeze with something like jealousy. He’s never felt it so fiercely before, but that makes sense, cause he’s never seen someone else make Langa laugh before.
The guy is cute, or whatever. And he’s smiling at Langa like he hung the fucking sun. Maybe this is the kind of guy Langa’s into, with his boring, dark hair and lack of skateboarding injuries.
Maybe he shouldn’t go up to them. Maybe Langa wants to talk, or flirt, or whatever. This is partially an S party, after all - surely everyone wants to talk to Snow. And all these college students must also see how cool Langa is; how could they not?
But before Reki can slip out of the room, Langa sees him and starts waving him over. And this dude looks too, so he has no choice but to nod and cross through the crowd.
“Reki!” Langa screams as he gets near. He immediately throws an arm around Reki’s shoulders and says, “This is Arata. He speaks English!”
Reki nods. “Nice to meet you, man.”
Arata’s stupid cheeks are red, probably as red as Reki’s are, and Reki hopes its from the drinks. Arata smiles at Reki, then continues to say something to Langa in English. Reki catches a few words - “ Vancouver ” and “ snowboard ” and “ mountain .”
Reki’s been working on his English a lot over the past few weeks. He’s been watching a ton of American tv recently - he asked Langa for recommendations, but Langa basically just watches skating videos now. So Reki’s just going down the list of shit that Netflix recommends.
But Reki, especially a drunk Reki, is not nearly ready to process the words Arata is saying, so he just focuses on the feel of Langa’s arm around him and tries not to lean into it. After a minute, Langa says in Japanese, “Sure thing, we’ll have to go sometime.”
Then he turns to Reki, as if Arata isn’t even there, and says, “We should do another shot.”
Reki nods, and tries not to revel in the fact that Langa guides him away from Arata, simply saying, “Catch you later!”
“I’m learning English,” Reki mumbles as Langa rifles through the drinks.
“What?”
“ I know some English .”
Langa’s face lights up. “ I know! We should speak it more.”
It takes Reki longer than usual to think through what he said, and Langa laughs, switching back to Japanese. “Maybe not tonight, though.”
Langa hands him a shot of - honestly, Reki doesn’t know and he doesn’t really care. Being drunk feels nice, so he’ll keep taking shots as long as they’re provided.
After following Langa’s advice from earlier and downing the shot, Reki remembers why he was looking for Langa in the first place. “Oh, right! You need to try this.”
Langa takes a sip without hesitation, and he smiles down at the cup. “That’s good!”
“I know! Niko called it a lemon drop.”
“Oh, Niko made it for you, huh?” Langa makes his eyebrows wiggle, and Reki’s so busy laughing at how dumb he looks that he doesn’t process what Langa means until way later.
“Wait, Niko?”
“Yeah man. Do you like her?”
“I don’t know. She’s cool! But…”
“But?”
But I don’t like her half as much as I like you .
Wait…
Woah.
It’s the first time Reki’s admitted that to himself. Normally, he can push the thoughts back just before they reach this critical point. But tonight, his filter is gone, even his internal one. And he’s simply left with the world-changing realization that he’s in love with his best friend. That this isn’t just a physical thing, that it’s not just raging teenage hormones. No, this runs deeper. He loves Langa.
“Reki? You okay?”
He looks up at Langa, and oh no, he’s got such a concerned expression on his face. Reki would do anything to get him to smile again, so without even thinking, he says the first thing that comes to his mind. “Did I tell you about the dream I had the other night?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Well I was reading to the twins before bed. And I fell asleep and dreamed that I was Cindereki.”
Langa’s eyes go wide. “Like Cinderella?”
Reki nods. “And Cherry was my stepsister, and Miya was too, and Shadow was our mom.”
“Who was the prince? Joe?”
Oh, shit. He didn’t think this far ahead.
The proper response would be a lie. Either by going along with Langa, or by saying there just wasn’t a prince. But Reki’s not in the headspace for the proper response. So he says, “Nah, Joe was my fairy godmother. You were the prince.”
But then he sees the look on Langa’s face, and he panics at the way Langa’s eyes go wide and his mouth drops open. So he just starts babbling. “Yeah, and Adam showed up to ruin everything, of course, and-“
“We should dance.”
“What?” Reki’s brain is spinning as he tries to process what Langa interrupted him with.
“I said that we should dance.”
“Oh. Sure!”
Langa grabs his hand and pulls them to a room that’s mostly occupied with a makeshift dance floor. The music is louder in here, so he has to lean down to whisper-shout, “Did we dance in your dream?”
Reki’s…definitely drunk. Cause that sounded…a bit flirty to him? But it’s probably just the way Langa whispered it right in his ear, which he had to do just to be heard in this loud room.
Still. Reki gets the overwhelming urge to turn his head and kiss Langa right now, and his drunk brain is telling him it’s a good idea. But he fights through that, suppressing a literal shiver as he feels Langa’s breath on his neck, and says, “Nah, we were skating.”
“Oh. That’s good too.”
Reki didn’t realize until now that most of the people dancing are basically just grinding against each other, their drinks sloshing all over the floor. He doesn’t know what to do, but then he doesn’t have to think about it anymore as someone bumps into him and he hits Langa’s chest with a muffled, “Oomph!”
But the person behind him doesn’t move, so he’s just stuck there, nearly pressed up against Langa. Without thinking, he starts shuffling to the beat and grabs Langa’s hand. He pulls it in front of their faces and says, “ Hand .”
“What?”
“I told you, I’m learning English. Hand. Eye. ” Reki points at Langa’s eyes, their hands still interlocked. “ Wrist .”
Langa mumbles something he can’t quite hear, so Reki just keeps going, poking him all over and saying all the English words he remembers. And then, without even thinking, he puts his thumb on Langa’s lips and says, “ Mouth. "
Langa draws in a quick breath, and Reki tries to pull away, but Langa’s hand is holding his in place. So he gives in to his racing thoughts and gently traces where his lips are parted, then drags his thumb down and away. But he’s not even looking at his hand - no, he’s been staring at Langa the whole time. Staring at his mouth, wondering what it would feel like to really, finally kiss him.
Reki was going to back away, he really was, but then Langa puts his hand on his back and pulls them together. He leans down the slightest bit, so his mouth is at Reki’s ear again, and says, “I can teach you more. Like, waist .”
He taps his fingers against Reki’s back, but Reki’s way more focused on how Langa’s lips are basically on his ear, and how his thigh is now in between Reki’s as they sway to the music. Reki suddenly feels hot - it’s like every point of contact is shooting warmth through him. Not electricity, but something gentler. Something that spreads slowly on his skin rather than zapping right through him.
Oh, absolutely not. He can’t do this. There will be soo many problems - in fact, there’s already a problem. Like, half a problem. A problem he’s sincerely hoping Langa doesn’t notice, because how would he begin to explain it? Sorry I’m hard, it totally wasn’t because of you .
So Reki backs up a little and laughs, hand still entwined with Langa’s but not touching him other than that. “Sorry, maybe we should save the English lesson for when we’re not at a party. I didn’t mean to be lame.”
“You weren’t being lame-”
“We should find Niko! I bet she’d dance with us.”
Reki pulls Langa through the crowd, certain he’s imagining the disappointed expression on his face.
~~~~
Dancing with Niko is fun, sure. She indulges all of Reki’s silly dance moves and screams along to the music, just like him. But he can’t get into it tonight. Instead of the alcohol slowing down his thoughts, now it’s making it impossible to think about anything but the way Langa grabbed his waist, and how his lips felt under his thumb, and when he said he likes it when Reki blushes.
Ironically, he gets lost in thoughts of Langa for so long that he didn’t see him slip away from the small group. Reki searches the crowd for where he went, and spots him after a moment off in the corner of the room. Talking to Arata.
No, why did he leave? Did he want to go talk about snowboarding some more? Reki wants to learn how to snowboard, seriously, they just haven’t had the chance yet. But he’ll learn! Just like he’s learning English.
He doesn’t realize he’s staring at the pair until Niko brings him back to reality with a touch on his arm, and then he tries to change his expression back to normal. But she pulls him through the dance floor and onto the front lawn, and he’s a bit dizzy at the sudden movement and a lot confused.
“You okay?” He immediately asks, because he doesn’t want something to be wrong. Reki might be drunk, but he’s still ready to fight someone if they made his new friend feel unsafe.
But with one look at her face, he can tell that’s not what this is about. Niko’s looking at him with something like sympathy, and that feels very, very dangerous.
She asks, in the quietest little voice, “Have you told Snow how you feel?”
“What?” As much as he’s trying to deny it, Reki can feel his face going red. But that doesn’t stop him from insisting, “What do you mean, how I feel? He’s my friend; I tell him that he’s cool all the time."
“That’s not what I mean, Reki. I’ve been trying to hang out with you all night, but you’re only looking at him.”
Reki starts mumbling an apology, but Niko holds up her hands. “It’s really fine. Seriously, I think you’re cute, but that’s nothing compared to what you two have.”
Woah. What you two have . That means that…other people see it too. Not just Miya, and Shadow, and the people they hang out with all the time. But people who barely know them, too.
And if his feelings are so transparent to people that barely know him, what are the chances that Langa knows, too? He’s pretty oblivious, but…
Maybe it’s the drinks, or maybe it’s the fact that Niko seems so wise. Whatever the reason, Reki says, “You’re right, okay? I like him. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel-”
“Enough apologizing! You seriously didn’t do anything wrong. Now, why haven’t you told him that you like him?"
“What…what if he doesn’t feel the same way?”
“But what if he does ? Have you stopped for a moment to consider what it could be like if he does, too?”
No, in all honesty. He’d been so worried about the consequences that he never thought things would actually work out. But now he does allow himself to imagine - he imagines a world pretty similar to his current one, except in this world, Langa doesn’t sleep on the guest futon at his place anymore. In this world, they end a long day of school and work and skating by patching up each other’s bruises and falling asleep in each other’s arms. Reki steals quick kisses when he thinks no one is looking, but Miya is and gives them crap about it, even though he’s secretly supportive. And he steals more than a quick kiss when they are alone - probably at Langa’s place, since his house is overcrowded with nosy sisters. In this world, he doesn’t have to back away when Langa gets too close - no, instead he gets closer, too, and that makes Langa smile his goddamn perfect smile.
“Reki.” Niko has a hand on his back now, rubbing small circles. “There’s no doubt in my mind that Snow feels the same way about you. But, even if he doesn’t, do you really think he’d let it ruin your friendship? Wouldn’t it be better if you talked to him?”
Reki nods, worried that his voice will give out if he tries to say anything. Niko’s right - they’ve gotten themselves into plenty of messes before by not talking. It’s gonna be hard, but he has to speak up. He has to.
Reki takes a deep breath and smiles at Niko. “You’re right. I should tell him. But first - got anymore of those lemon drops?”
~~~~
Niko fixes him up a shot, and it actually looks pretty simple.
He cheers his glass with hers and says, “I’m definitely trying to make this on my own sometime.”
“See if you still say that in the morning,” Niko responds with a wink, and downs her shot.
Reki takes that as his cue to drink his own, and oh no - now that he’s done this, there’s nothing left for him to do except find Langa and ask to talk. He’s not as drunk as he was earlier, but he still feels that pleasant fuzziness at the edge of his thoughts and the warmth in his limbs. If there’s any time that would be right to do this, it’s now.
Niko pats him on the back. “You got this. And if it doesn’t work out, I’ll always be here with more alcohol.”
“You’re the best,” Reki responds. “I’m definitely making you a board as thanks.”
He heads towards the living room as Niko calls out, “My favorite color is blue!”
Langa’s right where he was 15 minutes ago, still talking to Arata. Reki doesn’t want to hijack their conversation, because Langa looks so happy. So instead of pulling him away, he just walks up to them and puts his arm around Langa’s shoulders.
“Hey Reki!” Langa says, leaning into him. “Arata has been telling me about the best places to snowboard in Japan.”
“My family has a vacation home near Tokyo.” Arata’s eyes flick down to Reki’s arm, then back to his face.
“That sounds really cool,” Reki says neutrally. Then he turns to Langa, and gods, he wanted to not interrupt but he’s going to lose all his confidence if he doesn’t tell Langa how he feels right fucking now. “Langa, could I pull you away for a second?”
Langa immediately nods, the happy expression on his face turning into concern, and Reki smiles to let him know everything’s okay. But then Arata says, “Dude, we were in the middle of a conversation.”
“Sorry - it’ll just be a second.”
“He was talking to me, if he wanted to be talking to you he would have found you-”
“Dude, I just have to ask him a question, it’s not a big deal-”
“Why do you always have to be around him? It’s so annoying.”
The words tumble out of Reki’s mouth before he even realizes he’s saying them. “Back off, okay? He’s mine!”
…
Oh, shit.
Probably not the best way to let Langa know he’d like to date.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
Reki doesn’t turn to see Langa’s expression. He can’t, he absolutely can’t. So he just runs. He sprints out of the room, through the kitchen, into the back garden, and he doesn’t stop to catch his breath until the lights and noise of the house are as far away as possible.
He sinks against a tree and throws his head back. Fuck. Is Langa drunk enough that he won’t remember that? Probably not - he’s done this a few times, so he knows his limits.
“Reki?”
Reki groans and sinks further into the tree. He doesn’t want Langa to find him, but it’s not a huge backyard, so of course, he’s spotted. Langa runs over to him, and before he can say anything, Reki starts babbling. “I’m so, so sorry, man. I had no right to say shit like that, I was being stupid-”
“Reki, it’s okay. I promise it’s okay-”
“No, it seriously wasn’t. I don’t know what I was thinking - actually I wasn’t thinking, I-”
“Do you want me to be yours?”
His words shock Reki into looking up at him. Langa’s expression is serious, and he’s searching Reki’s face.
“What?”
“I said, do you want me to be yours?”
Be brave, Reki. Come on.
He steels himself and quietly says, “Yes.”
And Langa’s kissing him, almost before he finishes the word.
Holy. Shit.
Langa’s kissing him.
After a moment, Reki realizes he should probably start kissing back. So he does, wrapping his arms around Langa’s neck as Langa grabs his waist. And he’s never done this before, he wouldn’t even know where to start, but Langa definitely has. Because Langa’s backing him up against the tree and running his hands up his back to grab his hair; Langa’s tracing his tongue against his lips and dipping it in his mouth.
Regrettably, after what seems like a lifetime and also no time at all, Langa’s pulling back. Reki chases his lips, giving him space to breathe but letting their foreheads fall together.
Reki mumbles, “How are you so good at that?”
“I’m good?”
“Yeah, man. I didn’t know you were some kind of playboy in Canada.”
“I wasn’t! I’ve never…I’ve never done that before.”
Reki smiles. “Me either.”
“I’m…really shocked you thought I was good at that. Because I was just thinking about how you taste like lemons.”
“Is that…a bad thing?”
“No! No, not at all. It’s…you taste good.”
Reki decides that they’ve had enough time to breathe and pulls Langa down by the neck, kissing him hard. He gets the urge to bite at Langa’s lip, so he gives in, and Langa lets out a little whimper from the back of his throat. Reki soothes the bite with his tongue, and Langa starts to moan but cuts himself off.
Reki wants to hear what he sounds like when they aren’t in public.
They kiss like that for who knows how long, and then Reki’s pulling Langa’s hair so he can kiss down his neck. He simply has to suck a line of marks down his skin right now or he swears he’ll die.
“Reki?” Langa’s voice cracks on his name, and Reki doesn’t stop what he’s doing but simply mumbles a questioning noise against his skin.
“Reki- we should stop.”
Reki pulls away as soon as the words register. He must look pretty pathetic, because Langa sees his face and starts laughing. “Not forever! Just for now. We’re both pretty drunk.”
Reki tucks his head into Langa’s neck, using all his self restraint not to bite at his collarbones. “I want to kiss you when I’m sober, too.”
Langa runs a hand up and down his back and holds him closer. “Me too. But let’s just wait until tomorrow. Okay? Then we can talk about stuff.”
“Talking is overrated,” Reki immediately huffs. But then Langa places a soft kiss on his hair, and he melts. “But…I guess you’re right.”
“Of course I am. I’m always right.”
Reki rolls his eyes and hits his arm. “No you aren’t.”
“I was right to follow you out here.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Reki pulls away and starts to head back to the house, but Langa grabs his hand and pulls him back for another kiss.
When they break apart, Langa doesn’t let him go - no, he wraps a hand around his waist and places a trail of kisses down his neck, sucking just above his collarbone. “Langa! You can’t-you can’t say you want to…” A breathy sigh escapes Reki’s lips, and he tries to remember what he was saying. “You can’t say you want to stop and then start driving me crazy.”
Langa pulls away with a wet slurp that would be gross at another time but right now is just super hot. He looks so deeply into Reki’s eyes, their faces only centimeters apart, and says, “I never said I wanted to stop, I just said we should . I would kiss you forever, if I could. Infinitely.”
“Oh my god.” Reki can feel his blush returning to his cheeks, and Langa’s mouth quirks up into a smirk.
“I’m gonna say stuff like that all the time now, just so I can make you blush.”
“Langa. Please. Stop torturing me.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll stop. For now.”
Reki sighs and laces their hands together. “Come on. Let’s get home.”
In what seems like no time at all, they make the trip back to Langa’s place and get ready for bed. But now Reki can openly stare at Langa in his fluffy pajama pants - he keeps his room so cold, it’s disgusting.
Reki steals a pair of pants and one of Langa’s t-shirts because he forgot to bring anything to sleep in over, and Langa stares at him too. The weight of his eyes makes Reki blush; he’ll just have to get used to the staring now. It…wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, to get used to.
They crawl into bed, and Langa immediately drapes his arm over Reki’s side and settles against him. He mumbles against his shoulder, “You’re wearing my clothes all the time now.”
“Oh yeah?”
Reki feels a nod against his back. He laughs and turns around, unable to resist giving Langa a quick kiss.
Langa has a sleepy smile as he pulls away, and Reki smiles back. There’s something so nice about being sleepy together. So…domestic, he guesses.
With Langa’s arm draped over him and his soft breathing as white noise, Reki’s quickly drifting towards sleep. Normally, he’s up for hours, tossing and turning and unable to turn off his thoughts. But it’s easy to drift off with Langa by his side.
The last thing Reki thinks before sleep overtakes him is, I could get used to this.