haikusociety | 9 1/2 Weeks - 37 - (Epilogue 01: Saturday)

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Epilogue 01: Saturday

"And this is where you'll sleep," Jin says as he opens the door and steps aside. Grand tour, the little office finale. He almost holds his breath.

Sara marches in, Akira following. He notices the shelf first, where Jin keeps all the family photos, the kids and his parents and Meisa, and Reio's family. The ones he used to hide from Kame.

"It's my room," Jin explains unnecessarily. "I'll sleep on the guest bed when you're here. The couch folds out." Kame was his usual prepared self and had spare sheets and two separate duvets, stocked up for guests when nobody but Kame has ever slept in this apartment.

Kame and Jin. And now the kids. That's much better already.

"You write music here?" Akira asks, noticing the guitar next to the desk.

"Yes, when I'm not at the agency." The desk has a new computer, real composing software, fantastic speakers.

"Who's the pirate guy?" Sara wants to know.

"He's in a movie I like," Jin says. The wall above the couch has a Pirates of the Carribbean and an ancient Heroes poster that Jin found at the back of his wardrobe. They're not even that important, but he hung them up for the principle of the thing, until there's something better. Everything Jin kept from the apartment is here, and it's still pretty bare. The floor is dark hardwood, the window wide with a fantastic view. Jin moved out all the breakables.

"I haven't put a lot of stuff in here yet," he says. "I wanted to know what you think, too, cause you'll be here on the weekends. I was thinking of getting a rug, but I didn't know which color."

"It's a cool room," Akira says. "It's great."

"I like purple," Sara announces.

Yeah, the flaw in the plan will probably be a shaggy rug in bright purple. Jin expects Akira to groan, but his son just looks at him with a very serious face. "I can put our bags in here," he says.

"Sure," Jin says, "thanks."

Sara bounces her butt on the couch and cranes her head back to get another look at Johnny Depp. Akira drags in the gym bag and old carry-all that hold their overnight things. He sets them very neatly in the corner, and then stands gingerly next to the couch as though waiting for Jin to offer him a seat.

"You know, there aren't any toys here," Sara complains. Jin just catches the little scuffle when Akira bumps into his sister and Sara glares at him.

"We can bring them," Akira says to Jin, then looks at her. "There's space in dad's shelf, look. We can bring stuff. And we can play games without toys, too. Right, dad?" His cheeks are red spots, and he looks like he can't decide who needs more urgent observation, his dad or his sister.

"Of course you can bring stuff," Jin says. "You have to! You're going to stay here lots of times, you totally need stuff for playing here. And I'll make you an account on the computer, so you can use that too."

"I want an account," Sara says, and Jin promises Sara will get her own account, but he's really watching Akira.

Lots of times seems to have registered. Akira ducks his head and no longer seems manic. With nobody to see but his baby girl, Jin gives him a quick hug.

God, he's missed them. Whole days with them.

"Let's go see about the ice cream, okay?" he says before he gets too embarrassing even for Sara.

"It smells funny here," Sara says as they move back into the open space of the apartment, her nose scrunching up. Akira gives a shocked little hiss.

"That'll go away," Jin tells her in a lowered voice. "Someone used to smoke in here."

Kame is behind the kitchen bar, laying out little plates on a tray. Still. He must have rearranged them three times.

"Tour finished?" he asks with a smile. It's not a relaxed smile, and not a shark smile. He came home an hour early from work and bought Italian ice cream for a welcome snack.

"You have a very big apartment, sir," Akira says. "It looks amazing."

"I like the bathroom best," Sara trumpets. The bathroom has a giant tub with jets, and Sara pretty much called dibs on it for tonight.

"I have strawberry bath bubbles for the tub, if you want to try those," Kame says to her. "You get really a lot with the jets."

The thought of Kame sitting alone in his bathtub in mountains of strawberry bubbles almost makes Jin laugh.

"Do you have kiwi?" Sara says. "I like kiwi."

Jin sees Akira biting his lip.

"I don't have kiwi," Kame admits. He looks sorry. But then he rallies. "I'll see if I can buy some for next time, though."

"Strawberry's okay too," Sara says generously. "It's nice my dad can live here now."

"I think it's nice too," Kame says. It's kind of funny and kind of stressful to see him think so fast. "It's good to have company."

"His apartment before was very small and full of music equipment," Sara goes on. "So we couldn't visit."

"Ice cream," Jin says, shooing them all. "It's melting." Or maybe that's just Jin feeling sweaty.

They sit around the top of Kame's huge-ass dining table, and it's so strange and new and... different. Jin takes the first spoon and realizes he has absolutely no appetite. Kame is trying half a spoonful of a chocolate type thing and they look at each other, and Jin doesn't know if Kame's vigilance makes him more nervous or less.

Sara has no appetite problem. She picked Suede Cherry and Italian Praline – this is what happens when you let Kame buy your ice cream, Jin figures – and is making good progress.

"My dad got me a duck for my birthday," she says. "It was all made of ice cream, it was huge."

Kame flushes red like a stop sign.

"It had over fifteen flavors, and eggs."

"Wow," Kame manages. He sounds a bit strangled. "That's amazing."

"Yumi ate two whole eggs and was sick on the way home," Sara says, with an unholy gleam in her eye.

"Don't talk about people being sick while other people are eating," Akira admonishes her, but she waves him off with her spoon.

"You're just annoyed because there was no melon flavor left for Park-kun."

Jin's not sure what that has to do with anything, but it doesn't matter because his son has completely frozen and is staring at the floor. Sara's spoon had been full of Italian Praline, which is now a big fat blob on the carpet.

"Whoops," Jin says.

"Don't worry about it," Kame says, and gets a washcloth from the kitchen.

Sara makes a contrite face, swearing she didn't mean it. The blob hit her knee on the way down and left a trail on her too.

Kame's already back, mopping up chocolate goo. "It washes off, see?" That's the first real smile on him today. "I knew someone once who dropped stuff on the floor. Though he didn't admit it."

"That wasn't ice cream," Jin says, cleaning the kid while Kame is cleaning the floor. "And it wasn't me." He notices that his son is sitting there like he's about to burst into tears, so he lets Sara help Kame carry the dishes away, and takes him aside.

"You know, you don't need to be so nervous," he says. A bit rich coming from him, but the point stands.

Akira is looking up at him half stubborn, half scared, his mouth pressed tight together.

"It was just a bit of ice cream," Jin says gently.

"But he's your boss," Akira blurts out. "And this is his apartment. We should make a good impression, not—" He gestures at the wet patch on the floor, and his eyes are wet too.

Oh, damn. Jin drops to his knees, and this time Akira hugs him back hard.

"I just don't want him to say we can't come visit you again," Akira says very quietly.

"He would never say that," Jin says, and then he just holds on for a bit, until Akira seems less rigid.

"Kame's my friend," he says, "we've been friends for longer than you've been alive. So yeah, he's my boss, but we're more like roommates. Would you kick Park-kun out for spilling some ice cream on your floor?"

"No," Akira concedes grudgingly.

"And I spill stuff all the time, I'll probably make a bigger mess here than your sister. He'll just have to live with that."

Akira rolls his eyes like that's a stupid argument, but at least he's blinked the tears away.

"He was almost more nervous about meeting you," Jin says, wondering for a flash if that's a breach of some confidence, but, well, it's the truth.

Akira frowns. "Why?"

"Because he wants to be friends with you, too. He wants you to like being here."

He watches his son mull that over. Slowly, carefully. "Okay," Akira says in the end. He still doesn't sound entirely convinced, but at least like he might be seeing where Jin's coming from. "He seems nice enough," he concedes. "And it's a pretty cool apartment."

Jin can't help grinning. "I'm very pleased to hear that." He takes Akira's hand, and Akira doesn't even pull it back. "Shall we go see what Sara has done to him while we were gone?"

*~*~*

Amazingly, Sara has done nothing outrageous to Jin's new boss at all. She is sitting on the kitchen counter, legs dangling, and listening spellbound while Kame says, "And then your dad left the hose lying around and when we came back, all the plants—"

"Hey!" Jin shouts. "That's unfair!"

"—were drowned," Kame finishes. "Oh, hi."

"Kame is telling me about the roof garden, dad." Sara waves at him. "When you were little. It was like me and mom's cactus."

Jin raises his eyebrows at Kame. "Kame, huh?"

Kame's eyes crinkle at him. "We reached an agreement. I'm allowed to call her Sara-chan instead of young Miss Akanishi."

"I like turtles!" Sara announces. Or maybe she's saying she likes Kame.

"If we're going to be friends, that's just more practical," Kame says, and he smiles at Akira. "What do you think? Would that work for you too?"

Akira gives that some quick, smart thinking. "Yeah," he says, leaning a little towards Jin. "Okay." Then he grins and bites his lip.

Jin wonders how long Akira is going to not use Kame's name at all, but then Akira proves him an idiot, because of course Akira's brave.

"Kame," he says, sounding like he's holding his breath. "My dad says you have a 4D TV. Could you show it to us maybe sometime? When you have time."

Kame nods; it takes all of their years with each other for Jin to see the relief. "I have time right now," he says, but looks at Jin. "Should we?"

"Let's," Jin decides.

*~*~*

"You don't want to watch anything that smells too bad," Kame warns, scrolling through the list of movies for under 10s.

Sara giggles. "Like with dog poop."

"Ew," Akira says, but sounds intrigued nontheless.

"Yes. But adventure movies are good."

The 4D TV is an elaborate contraption that adds smoke, certain smells and vibrations in the couch to the TV experience. It's weird to see all that and wonder why Kame ever bothered; Jin just can't see him sitting down to ever watch a whole movie and smell rainforests and fly on spaceships.

He wonders if even Kame didn't always plan to be alone, or if he went for state of the art just because.

They stream Rin and the Ninja Camels, just out a day ago. Jin, Sara and Akira get the couch, and at the first shake Sara squeaks and dumps herself on Jin's lap.

The movie is dumb and brilliant, with a camel ride through the desert that makes even Jin laugh. The kids love it. Then there is strange fog and wet smells in an underground cave, but it doesn't get too creepy; a benefit of watching movies suitable for his daughter.

Kame in the motionless armchair sends the occasional glance towards them, like he's not sure how one relaxes with a movie anymore. Once, he goes to the toilet, and Jin suspects he needs to check some work e-mails too, but then he comes back and patiently sits through the big desert fight and a victory feast whose smells make Jin hungry.

"That was cool," Akira grins when the credits roll. He gives Kame a more respectful smile. "Thank you for letting us try it. Your TV is really cool."

Kame nods, though he looks surprised. "It's no problem," he says. "I hadn't really tried it properly myself, so..."

Akira makes big eyes. "You haven't?"

"I want to be a ninja too," Sara declares.

"I've been very busy recently," Kame says, and Jin hopes he's the only one who can see the faint shadow passing through his eyes. "And I haven't had it long."

"Oh," says Akira, "I understand," like it makes total sense to buy a top-of-the-line TV you're too busy to ever watch.

"Can I learn to be a ninja, dad?"

"I don't know, Princess," Jin says. "I'm not sure we can find a camel to teach you."

"You have to be quiet to be a ninja," Akira grins. "Stealthy."

"I can be stealthy." She hops off the couch and stealth-marches once around it in a way that reminds Jin of a ballet-dancing giraffe. Akira starts laughing and Sara sulks for half a minute, until Akira gets in on it and they stalk each other once around the living room. Jin hopes nobody makes him be camel-sensei.

Kame watches the whole thing with a zoo-like fascination. "Would it be time for dinner?" he asks Jin after a while, quietly. "I don't know when they would..."

Jin checks. Akira nods reluctantly. "Yes," Jin says.

Mid-stealth, Sara stops dead. "I still want my bath," she says. "I want to try the jets and the bubbles."

"Well, how about you do that now and in about half an hour we'll have dinner?"

"I want a bath with you," Sara says, pushing her lip out.

Jin gives Kame and Akira an uncertain glance. Kame and Akira look at each other. From the outside they are probably hilarious. "I don't know, Princess, we have to get dinner." And not leave Akira and Kame stranded and taking turns terrifying each other.

"But I want!" Sara says.

"I could..." Kame offers, but becomes uncertain.

"Yeah, you go, it's cool," Akira says, and turns to Kame. "Do you think I could watch more on your TV?"

"Of course," Kame says. "Just tell me what we want. I thought we'd order something nice. I know a service that does great sushi or a pizza place with a big selection."

"Pizza," Akira says. "Definitely."

"Pizza," Sara says, dragging at Jin's hand.

Jin half shrugs, half grins. "What did you expect," he says, and then he leaves Akira and Kame in the living room to see to food and camels while he has a bath with his daughter. And bubbles and jets.

*~*~*

Jin's missed this so much. Through the crack in the door he can just hear the TV, Akira out there, Sara in the tub with him, wriggling around to get tickled by the jet streams while the bubbles grow.

He could watch her forever, splashing her feet and building crowns of foam on her head.

Kame's getting them dinner, dealing with work. Jin sinks into the water to his neck, bubbles crackling by his ears. They don't have perfection, but he never thought he'd get this close again.

When they reappear, Akira is bouncing along to a jeep ride among lions and ignoring everything. Kame glances across at them, and Jin sees the heat in his eyes when he takes in Jin in sweatpants and with the tips of his hair damp; sees how it fades when he looks at Sara in her purple ballerina pyjamas next to him. But Kame is smiling, looking relaxed at last.

"Akira set the table," he says. "Pizzas should be here any minute." They're at the big table again, with fine china and huge silver cutlery. Sara's pyjamas are just right for brightening up the place.

*~*~*

Jin sneaks out when Akira is well and truly under, curled up on his side with a hand on his face. Sara won the who-sleeps-first game and is spread out over half the bed, the sweet-smelling flopsy-bunny still dangling from her arm.

The apartment is quiet, all the white a dark grey, no lights on. The red stand-by signs from stereo and television are like squinty eyes at the far wall.

Kame's on the balcony. Jin slides the door shut behind him, stepping into the warm night. "Calm after the storm?" he says.

Kame exhales smoke and taps off his cigarette. "I guess," he says. "Is everything okay? You were in there a long time."

"Yes, they're fine. Great, actually." He just missed watching them fall asleep. "Just, first night in a new place. And it's been a while since I could… you know."

Kame nods. "Yeah."

Jin leans on the railing, looks out into the mature trees opposite. Wonders if there are bats there.

"Thank you," he says. "You were great."

Kame gives a dismissive handwave. "They're nice kids."

"I think they like you," Jin says.

Kame slowly exhales more smoke than Jin thought anybody's lungs could hold.

"That's good," he says, nodding to himself. "Very good."

"I'm afraid Sara can be a bit of a pest," Jin says, mostly to give Kame a prompt, a clue that talking freely is allowed here.

More nodding from Kame, and then a wicked sideways smile. "She reminds me of someone I used to know. An enchanting and entitled little baka princess."

It takes Jin a moment. "Prince," he protests. "If you need further proof of my—" He breaks off, because, wait. "Enchanting?"

"She's sweet," Kame says. "She makes it easy."

"No, I mean, me?"

Kame taps off some ash, very measured. "I liked you even when you were a brat."

"I'll show you brat," Jin says huffily.

"I don't doubt it." Kame puffs on his cigarette again, while Jin tries to think of something bratty to do to him right now.

"But Akira is like you, too," Kame says. "Differently." He gives Jin a look, brief, but heavy with time, the days on minibuses and nights in hotels they spent talking.

"He's smarter than me, though," Jin says, blinking out at the trees.

"Well, that's not aiming very high."

Jin elbows him.

Kame lights a second cigarette, but it's relaxed, not desperate. Jin doesn't comment. Kame lets the breeze be the only sound for a moment, and then says very carefully, "He won't believe the roommate version forever. Or even very long. He'll figure it out."

"Yeah," Jin says. He hadn't thought about it yet, but Kame's right. He throws Kame a cautious look, but his smoking profile isn't giving anything away. "Is that... terrible?" he tries.

Kame shoots him an odd glance. "There's been speculation about me for decades. I don't see Akira selling the story to top up his pocket money. But you're... new to this." Straight, Jin thinks he means. "And he's your son."

"I can handle my son knowing about my private life," Jin says. Now that it no longer involves unemployment and the threat of eviction... Some people might wonder about his priorities, but Jin's quite fine with them. "I'm not worried about it."

Kame mulls that over, but in the end he nods quietly and that's settled.

"How were things at the office this morning?"

"Fine," Kame says.

"Anything new?" Jin prods. "I thought you were interviewing for the new Arashi manager." They've come around to not actively calling for Kame's head, Jin heard, but both Kame and the guys figure it's healthier to have an administrative buffer for now.

"Yes. It went quite well," Kame says in that same smooth voice.

Jin raises his eyebrows and stares, not that Kame will get the full benefit in this light.

Eventually Kame notices the silence. He blinks at Jin. "Sorry. I..." He shrugs. "I think I've narrowed it down to three I could live with, though we're still vetting one who used to work for the Koreans." He taps another cigarette from the pack and gives Jin a small smile. "Sorry."

"Are Arashi okay with those three too?"

"Yes. We made the list together. Well, in a back and forth through Koki, really. Figured that was best."

Jin nods and leans against the balustrade. Sounds like it's going as well as it could.

Kame eyes him again. "I'm still getting used to just telling someone... things. Without worrying about it."

"I know, it's hard to turn from Lex Luthor back into Superman," Jin says. He catches the flash of Kame wanting to tackle him. "But you'll get better at it with practice." He hooks his fingers into the waistband of Kame's pants. "You always do."

"And you're mixing something up," Kame says tightly. "Superman turns into Clark Kent, Luthor just gets more evil."

"Whatever," Jin says. "Stop quibbling and don't be that guy."

Kame lets the pull on his waist go where Jin wants, ends up pressing against him.

"You'll have to relearn a lot of things," Jin says, and holds Kame's eyes, surprise and all. "That normal people do." Touch, when you want it. A hug, when you're happy.

Kame looks almost intimidated. But he's Kame, and so never intimidated for long, and next his hand is on Jin's neck and he's kissing Jin as if Jin's been waiting for it all day.

When he stops, he leaves Jin with his eyes closed and his pulse beating faster. "Sorry, I... your kids."

"Don't apologize," Jin says, sweaty where Kame's hands hold him; control settling over Kame like his very own flying cape and Jin finds even that... appealing. But, yeah. He would just die if Sara woke up and wanted an orange juice. "Can't have everything," he sighs.

Kame's breath goes out in a shudder and he kisses Jin clumsily behind the ear. Then he lets him go. "But a lot," he mumbles, then pockets the lighter and turns for the door.

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From:

dungbrains.livejournal.com

Epilogue 01 ............................................................ 01 8DDDDDD

/goes to read

From:

dungbrains.livejournal.com

there probably isn't a single cell in my body that didn't melt from all this sweet and beautiful. I'm just so genuinely happy right now.

I wonder what Jin told Meisa about this arrangement.

I'm so happy he finally gets to spend days with his kids, they seem really so sweet. And somehow the Sara/Jin & Kame/Akira combinations are so perfect; The brats and the brains. I wonder if Akira is going to secretly talk to Kame like "you're not really just my dad's roommate uh?" *__*

They fall so well into place together T__T and YES to strawberry-bubbled bath for Kame 8D with his jin-toy~

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