synergetic | Drunken Confessions

Entry tags:

dating daddies

Drunken Confessions

The day was already impossibly long at 2. By the time he puts Yukiko to bed, it's felt like a small eternity. But the kitchen is clean, everyone has bathed, the toys are put away, the homework is checked, and the foreheads have been kissed. He even got in a good conversation with Keita about becoming a big brother after bedtime story.

Frankly, he's so tired he could go straight to bed, but drinking with Yukimura on the couch has become a cherished nighttime ritual, and he isn't about to start skipping something so hard-earned and enjoyable now. Never mind the value it had in maintaining good rapport; that was never something to take for granted.

So to the couch he goes, where Yukimura is already waiting with Hima tucked comfortably in her bassinet by his side. For a moment, Bunta is struck all over again with admiration for this man who generously opened his home to them and who has given Yukiko and Keita the same patience and care that he gives Himawari. He didn't have to come home and straight from the genkan target handling the crying toddler instead of the snuggly and content infant he'd missed all day. He could have taken Hima and left Bunta to juggle Keita's meltdown and cooking dinner. Instead, he went to the fire. He's a good father and a good person.

"We made it....!" Bunta says with as much celebration as fatigue and flops down beside him.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Bleary-eyed, Yukimura frowns.

"Honestly. You're as bad as Sanada." Which transforms that frown back into a giggle. He can't really stay negative when he's this deficient of inhibitions. When everything sounds like a good idea, at least when a dear and cherished friend proposes it.

"Everybody waits until it's too late to confess to me. When they're already with someone else. No one wants to hear my opinion on the subject when it might actually make a difference. For the record, I think I'd have an easier time falling in love with one of the few people I already like over a stranger, but nobody ever bothers to ask me."

Which is something they ought to be punished for. He can't punish Sanada without stepping on Aya-chan's toes, and Aya-chan's toes deserve better than that.

Marui, on the other hand...

Yukimura kisses his lips, briefly. A feather-light kiss, but a kiss.

Yukimura says it like this was something Bunta should have told him years ago. What would the point have been, back when they wanted such different things? Maybe Yukimura was upset about not having a serious partner for the interim, and weighted with guilt over Himawari's mother. Those aren't things Bunta can help him with. He can't say he'd do it differently himself, even knowing how it ended. It was an incredible twelve years.

The barely-there touch of lips is the moment of payoff for all that chugging. In this moment, there are no thoughts or memories to cloud the experience of Now. That's how it should be. Fully relaxed and cognitively disengaged, he's immersed in his senses, his feelings, and his instincts.

He likes it.

He's missed this feeling. He's ready to have this closeness again. He wants it to be him. The brush of lips draws his hand to the back of Yukimura's neck as he leans forward, seeking another taste.

"Oh, you aren't opposed to this," Yukimura said, stating the obvious in a low, lilting voice.

He doesn't strain against or try to pull away from Marui's hand. Tries to figure out what the sexy to do with his own hands would be, but the alcohol is drowning thoughts that he actually needs to think through. Simple things like "Kiss enjoyable; kiss more," get through more easily.

So he does.

"I can do anything with encouragement," Yukimura says wryly.

The words half-process; Bunta isn't really paying much attention to them at the moment. Between drunkenness and the swell of desire from Yukimura's answer to his invitation, it was like hearing them from underwater.

What he's much more attuned to is the tone of voice and body language that both speak of receptiveness. Receptiveness, so he leans in farther, kisses deeper. His hand glides up, fingers threading through dark waves of hair. What a nice place to be this is, cozy and intimate with full stomachs and sleeping children. If Yukimura wanted it too-- and it sounded like he did-- he'd stay here with him permanently.

Why don't they, then? He draws back from the kiss just enough to meet Yukimura's eyes, and it's only for a moment that he pauses to reflect on the different color: no longer vibrant green, but rich indigo. Different, but no less beautiful and enchanting.

"Wanna fall in love?"

"It would be easy, wouldn't it?"

He was beginning to think so. His mind was too fuzzy to think out all of the implications right now. But someone he'd known most of his life, someone he knew to be strong but loving and... a little unambitious since getting out of school, but he'd managed. Held himself and his family together, imperfectly but successfully.

"Nothing is easy, but... you make it easier."

Yukimura sure is talking a lot.

It's all more thinking than Bunta really has the capacity or even interest in doing on so little energy and so much alcohol. That answer was close enough to 'Yes' for his ears. He's not concerned about something so abstract and far away as how to make it work long-term, or what this might change in their established dynamic. Whatever happened, everything would be fine.

He lets himself fall back in recline towards the arm of the sofa, tugging Yukimura down with him as he goes.

Yukimura, eyes heavy under the alcohol, accepts the maneuvering with more pliancy than he normally would. It's warm and pleasant here... And Marui isn't exactly soft but laying against him is... Cozy.

"This is how you romance someone?" he questioned lightly, face pressed into Marui's neck all of a sudden. He won't admit if it's working or not, but he's drifting into sleep...

Sleep wasn't quite what Bunta had in mind when he pulled them horizontal, but once they are the exhaustion from the day makes its comeback. His eyes feel heavy and having them open burns. Just close them for a little...

The next thing he knows is the sound of crying. Loud crying. Very distressed crying. Keita's crying. It hurts his ears and it is way too fucking bright in the room and every inch of him hurts and where the fuck is he.

Something over him is jostling back and forth the screaming is right in his ear ow ow ow owwww?

"DADDY. YOU KILLED DADDY. YOU LAID ON TOP OF HIM AND CRUSHED HIM."

Oh, shit.

Every scream of Keita's is echoed by the baby and that parental siren call to his baby is the only thing that stays Yukimura's hand from smacking the screaming alarm clock like he had a snooze button upside his head.

Instead he ignores Keita, careful not to react, but he also isn't too careful leveraging himself to stand up, and Marui might catch a stray elbow in the stomach. Oh well-- that'll hopefully wake him up enough to tend to his distraught child.

He quickly makes it over to the bassinette to try and soothe Himawari, and then frowns.

Had they been in the middle of something?

Bunta yawns exaggeratedly and with no conscious effort towards that manner, or much of anything else for that matter. He's conscious, but he has no claim on the label 'awake.'

Yukimura's weight leaves him, and Bunta innately ropes an arm around Keita to pull him into his place, rolling a bit towards the back of the couch as he does so that Keita is sandwiched against the cushion in his embrace like a screaming teddy bear.

"You're loud...! I'm not dead. Just tired."

Of course, now that he's going, the tears can't just be turned off like a faucet, so Bunta resigns himself to couch snuggles and ringing ears while his son resets. One of those at least is nice!

"I'll start breakfast after this," he says for Yukimura's benefit. "Any requests?"

Not wanting to shout to be heard, Yukimura shakes his head on his way to heat up a bottle.

The change of scenery seems to get Himawari back to normal and with his Daddy senses able to rest, Yukimura's mind starts to wander. He's got her situated with the bottle when some dialogue gets remembered and he sticks his head back in the room where the Maruis are.

"Do we need to..." he starts talking before he remembers baby is present, and shuts up a little too quickly.

If Bunta were not hung over and half-asleep, he might be in a better position to make guesses as to what exactly Yukimura started to ask him. As it is, he's in no state to do anything of the sort.

"Yeah-- I'll clean up in a minute," he said, coming to the only assumption he could that Yukimura was asking about the booze and bottles still out.

"Oh, I didn't even think about that," he said tiredly.

"Are we alcoholics? I almost wonder."

"Huh?" Bunta looks over his shoulder at Yukimura's question, having never considered this possibility himself. He manages a smile over the din of Keita's wails in his ear, but the strain in it is evident.

"We're parents. That's all the difference," he jokes.

"There might be some budget adjustments in the future," he said lightly. "Or we need to ask Atobe if he won't mind you babysitting. I'm sure he'd be willing to donate to our supply in that case."

He looks a little wistfully at the couch. They look so cozy... he'd been cozy before Keita decided to scream bloody murder (and accuse him thereof). That hadn't just been the drunken haze, had it?

Budget adjustments... in which direction? Surely he's not suggesting they need less.

Tiredly, he rubs Keita's back in an effort to soothe him. Maybe he just needs a distraction?

"Hey, why did you come downstairs? Are you hungry?"

Keita shakes his head.

"No? Not even for pancakes?"

Another shake of the head. Still crying.

"What's wrong? You can see I'm right here."

"You aren't there."

"Huh?"

"You aren't there...!"

Somewhat confused, Bunta looks back at Yukimura. Any ideas?

Yukimura shrugs and tries to burp the baby. Honestly, Keita's baby logic is completely impenetrable to him. But his mind is still trying to figure it out. It's like Keita thinks the world revolves around him and can't imagine that everyone around him isn't exactly on his wavelength... maybe they should be asking Atobe to babysit instead...

"Maybe he looked for you in your bedroom first and got scared," Yukimura finally offers, after a solid minute of forcefully applying cold logic to the scenario. In which case: "Keita-kun, you're going to make yourself sick if you don't stop carrying on."

It's hard when you know just enough about words and language to communicate, but not enough to always do so effectively. It made perfect sense in Keita's head that he was answering his dad's question: why did he come downstairs? Because you aren't up there.

Yukimura's suggestion thus earns a pronounced nod of confirmation from Keita.

"He isn't there, so I came here."

That seems to trigger a small light bulb moment for Bunta, and his annoyance melts away into a smidge of guilt.

"I see. You were looking for me and I wasn't asleep up there, but I also wasn't awake down here. Sorry to scare you."

Pushing himself up to a sitting position, he collects Keita and stands up with him in his arms. "Why were you looking for me?"

"I wanted to sleep by you..."

Bunta blinks, then despite it all, he's grinning through Keita's tears like this is the best thing he's heard all week.

"Well why didn't you say so?! Let's go back upstairs and do that right now."

"O-kay..."

Bunta looks to Yukimura with an expression that is only half-apologetic. "Well, you heard the little man. We'll be back later."

Exactly why Keita isn't wanting to finish sleeping in his own bed isn't a subject he feels compelled to clarify, nor is it one Bunta thinks to ask about. The request is simply too good to question.

Yukimura giggles when he's fairly certain he can't be heard by anyone but Himawari, and she clutches at him, seeming to mimic the sound.

For a moment, he can't tell if he wants to join them or copy them, but with the baby fed, she seems a little too bouncy to go back to sleep. So, he settles her in a nearby playpen with her nearby toys to work herself out to her heart's content.

So what is he going to do?

He's been awake too long to go back to sleep. And starting to feel hungry.

Yukimura eyes the stove. There's eggs, and pancake mix? He hopes. Bread to toast, and butter, and the toaster to do it with. He likes his toast dark, and isn't sure how far to turn the toaster's setting, but Marui used it last, so maybe he needs to set it higher?

It takes less than five minutes to settle himself and Keita in his bed and pass right back out.

It takes even less than that for the smoke alarm to wake him right back up. Keita, who had just stopped crying, starts screaming in terror again and digs his fingers into Bunta's sides as though clinging for dear life. Bunta sucks in a breath through his wince; it is definitely time to cut those nails!

Bunta sniffs the air-- clear in the bedroom. Holding Keita, he gets back up and opens the door, hallway is clear, no smoke in sight, but he can smell the burning. He knows that particular burning smell, too. Toast.

Well, this is kinda his own fault because he jumped at the chance to go back to bed instead of getting up and making breakfast for everyone. He put Yukimura in a bad position.

Honestly, smiling and going back down to make everything right is the absolute last thing he feels like doing. Literally everything hurts, and he is about as grouchy as he gets from it and the lack of sleep. Recognizing that, he takes a moment in the hall, even with Keita screaming in his ear and the alarm still blaring, to close his eyes, take a deep breath, and mentally reset.

Always remember your priorities. Taking care of Yukimura and kids is Number One. That means helping Yukimura with breakfast. Doing it while exhausted and hung over is just another special talent on his already impressive repertoire. It might feel like hell, but isn't it also just the result of having everything he wants and needs in life? It sure is.

Ok: let's do this. Game on!

Mentality refreshed, Bunta descends the stairs with Keita still attached, relieved when he hears the alarm stop. Yukimura must have reached it and disabled it until the kitchen air clears. Excellent. He walks to the kitchen and grabs a cookie that he passes straight to Keita.

Keita, now distracted by the prospect of delicious sugar and with the scary loud noise stopped, accepts the bribe and quiets down with it, allowing Bunta to settle him into one of the chairs at the table.

"On second thought, you've got the right idea down here. Let's eat! Leave it to me."

"...I will, thanks."

It all happened so fast. He'd guessed at where to dial the toaster's dial to, thinking he wanted it both dark and instantly. Then came the smoke, and when unplugging it didn't work, and he had Himawari's distressed cries from the smoke, the burning, and the alarm all in his head, he'd done the first thing that came to mind, and thrown a cup of water over the appliance.

At least he'd unplugged it first...

Yukimura coughed and scooped up the baby again, too irritated with how idiotic he looked to think of something else to soothe her. She was never going to walk at this rate.

"Am I still--" he glanced at Keita curiously. Were you supposed to talk about waking up still drunk in front of children?

Bunta's good cheer hits a stall as he turns and discovers the state of the toaster. Residual tendrils of smoke rise from the unplugged appliance dripping water into the puddle it stands in, which is also running off the counter and onto the floor. Well, clearly toast is off the menu for today. That's too bad.

"You're right, that toaster was pretty past its time. We'll pick up a new one today."

Keita, ever helpful, looked back at Yukimura. That glance said to Keita that Yukimura wanted his help finishing the sentence.

"Cool?" Doubt, Mr. Yukimura, sir. Doubt.

Yukimura's eyes close so that he doesn't actually glare at Keita. He can't talk for a moment, either, because he thinks he might actually growl with annoyance. Or exhaustion. Or hunger. Or residual drunkenness. Or disappointment at not getting any follow-through from Bunta's flirting last night.

Wait, that was real, wasn't it? Did he actually want follow-through? Or did he just need coffee?

He looked over at Bunta, settling into his self-appointed domestic duties.

Did he actually mean that?

"Cool?" Bunta repeats as he grabs a dish towel and starts mopping up the water around the toaster. Even without looking back at Yukimura's expression, he knows the man well enough to know his ego wasn't ready for that hit right on the heels of setting off the smoke alarm. Kids were brutal!

"What're you saying? Yukimura-kun's the coolest person you know. He's even cooler than me."

"You're not cool."

"Sure I am. We're all cool in this house."

"Nuh-uh..."

"Ah, I see. It's not cool to make pancakes with whipped cream and sprinkles and strawberries."

"Those are cool. You're just not."

"But how can I not be cool when I do such cool things?"

"Because you're old!"

Bunta bursts into laughter. "You think so? Well, everyone must seem old for you. But people can get much, much older than I am."

Spill cleaned, the towel is dropped in the sink, and Bunta fills the coffee maker to start a brew. "Anyway, let's try cinnamon toast in the oven. Eggs and sausage on the side. Yukimura-kun--"

He looks back in Yukimura's direction, and all at once, the night prior comes rushing back to mind, bringing a light blush to his face. That kiss...

Well, nothing he can focus on right now. They'll have to follow up on that later. But his voice is a bit softer with the smile he sends back to him.

"Eggs the usual way?"

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject