[ if reki's a little early that saturday, there's a perfectly legitimate explanation. he'd barely made it an hour into his shift at the shop before oka already had it up to the roof with his wild energy. by the time cleanup rolled around, his manager took one look at his bright, excited grin and waved him off early on the condition that he 'please not do anything stupid... for once.'
even with a detour back home to fix the drip, it's still not the agreed upon six when he rolls up to kaoru's place. if it was anyone else, he'd burst in anyway and count himself lucky for scoring a little extra quality time, but. character growth. instead, he hangs back in the shadows of the street like a delinquent and texts instead. ]
[Ah yes, teenagers. And their boundless energy. Not to mention their ability to just take off running after work on some new adventure, without even needing to wind down with a drink afterwards and talk themselves down from taking out a hit on some particularly difficult client or another.
Of course Reki is unfashionably early.
Kaoru puts down his wine glass and sighs. He hasn't even changed yet, so this isn't especially convenient. But he can't really bring himself to begrudge Reki his enthusiasm, as long as he doesn't break anything.]
I think I can manage on my own. But if you're lurking outside looking incredibly suspicious right now, I'd rather you came in.
[ that's a pretty clear invitation. in this neighborhood, there's no way for reki to not look suspicious, not when he's got a board tucked under one arm and he's sporting both a hood and a snapback. (and the signature bandana underneath all that, of course.) so of course he takes it as such and jogs the rest of the way to the door. he has the good sense to leave his deck outside for fear that he'll take out something delicate if he doesn't, and is already chattering the second the door shuts behind him: ]
We're drinkin' already? Kinda lame to start without me.
[He's firm with that clarification, but it's actually hard not to be cheered a little by the whole Human Sunshine thing Reki seems to have going for him at all times. Not that Kaoru would admit as much out loud. He has other things to do, like tie his hair up higher and tighter so it will stay out of the way during... whatever it is they're going to be doing.]
I suppose you can wash the glass, though, if you really want to be involved.
You have earned it. Why don't I pour you another glass instead? It's important to decompress.
[ there's a sly twist to his bright smile, but. it's very radiant and bright and cheery. human sunshine to the very core. he reaches out for kaoru's glass, watching him weave his fingers through his hair. ]
You got so much hair, dude. Gonna do somethin' fun with it tonight?
[He doesn't particularly feel like drinking more than one glass is the greatest idea of all time before there is apparently going to be climbing or something, but he doesn't bother to argue. He can drink the rest later or something.
He turns away from the mirror to raise an eyebrow in Reki's direction at that other thing, though.]
Like what? [And then, after a moment of thought:] Can you braid?
[ reki isn't sweating all that. kaoru's perfectly capable in his eyes, so he meanders to the bottle on the counter and pours him another glass. he's on his way back when kaoru asks him that, and then — if you thought his smile was already on its brightest setting, you thought wrong. ]
Can I ever.
[ the glass is delivered back into kaoru's hand as reki slides in behind him, curiously peering at his friend's reflection in the mirror. ]
With a crook of his finger he beckons Reki to his bathroom, where he opens a sleek black box containing four wooden combs of different widths and three brushes: boar bristle, round, detangler.
He also opens a cabinet with various styling products on one shelf, and fragrances in elaborate glass bottles on another.]
Be gentle. If there's any breakage, I'll have to charge you for a deep conditioning treatment.
[ this is, to be perfectly honest, almost exactly what reki was expecting. and yet his brows still rise at the sheer elegance of it all, so much more of a wonder to behold here in person. now he's kind of starting to get why kaoru likes all this fancy stuff.
with the proper amount of careful reverence, he retrieves a bottle from one of the cabinets and twists it in his hand, eyeing the label as he unscrews the cap and sniffs its contents. ]
Relax. Long as you don't thrash around or try to bite me, this is gonna be a treat. Sit down, get comfortable.
[But, okay, fine. He'll sit down and hope that Reki sniffing his products for unknown reasons isn't a bad omen. He can call the whole thing off at the first sign of trouble anyway, he reasons.]
[ reki doesn't dignify that first question with anything more than a low snicker. the bottle, apparently, smells good enough to take with him — smells like money, fuck yeah — but he has to rifle around for the pins and clips. ]
Every morning, three times in a row. Four if I'm lucky.
[ it's so hard to resist snapping an alligator clip to the tip of kaoru's nose now that he has one. that look crosses his face, and his eyes shift, but ultimately he decides to clip it to his collar and start piecing out kaoru's hair. ]
[Smart move to have an ounce of impulse control, Reki. Kaoru did not protest the part about his potential for biting, and that might have been an unpleasant way to find out.]
Ah. You have sisters, then.
[That much is easy enough to piece together from the context. And it explains why Reki's movements feel so practiced and assured. So far so good, honestly. Not least of all because he gets compliments out of the deal, too.]
Yeah, that's part of it. You're mostly just blessed with a wicked mane.
[ it's so silky and heavy and a dream to play in. right now, he's carefully crafting a section of hair to curl loosely around his finger and press against the crown of kaoru's head, leaning back to view it from a better angle. ]
We're gonna do somethin' really fun with it, right?
[He's well aware of what he has going for him. And thank god, it's increasingly seeming like Reki knows what he's doing while he has his hands all up in such a valuable asset.]
Keep in mind that I can and will cancel and refuse to go in public with you if you make me look like a clown. But otherwise... why not? [He's seen paint and graphite smudges on Reki's hands before.] Have your artistic freedom.
[ well. that rules out the foxtail he was planning on shaping out of this handful of hair. still looks cute before he lets it unfold back across his palm and gives it a few spritzes. ]
Hell yeah, that's the spirit. Promise you're in good hands.
[ completely smudge-free, for the record, as they trace the hair along kaoru's temple and pin it atop his head. the paint, though, that's never coming off. ]
[He glances down at his fingernails, and after a moment, pulls a glass file out of a drawer. As long as he's sitting here, he might as well have something to do with his hands.]
But I figured I'd let you surprise me this time. Isn't that more interesting?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
throwing this here if that's ok with you! ✌️
even with a detour back home to fix the drip, it's still not the agreed upon six when he rolls up to kaoru's place. if it was anyone else, he'd burst in anyway and count himself lucky for scoring a little extra quality time, but. character growth. instead, he hangs back in the shadows of the street like a delinquent and texts instead. ]
need help gettin ready?
hell yeahhhh
Of course Reki is unfashionably early.
Kaoru puts down his wine glass and sighs. He hasn't even changed yet, so this isn't especially convenient. But he can't really bring himself to begrudge Reki his enthusiasm, as long as he doesn't break anything.]
I think I can manage on my own. But if you're lurking outside looking incredibly suspicious right now, I'd rather you came in.
🤘
We're drinkin' already? Kinda lame to start without me.
no subject
[He's firm with that clarification, but it's actually hard not to be cheered a little by the whole Human Sunshine thing Reki seems to have going for him at all times. Not that Kaoru would admit as much out loud. He has other things to do, like tie his hair up higher and tighter so it will stay out of the way during... whatever it is they're going to be doing.]
I suppose you can wash the glass, though, if you really want to be involved.
no subject
[ there's a sly twist to his bright smile, but. it's very radiant and bright and cheery. human sunshine to the very core. he reaches out for kaoru's glass, watching him weave his fingers through his hair. ]
You got so much hair, dude. Gonna do somethin' fun with it tonight?
no subject
He turns away from the mirror to raise an eyebrow in Reki's direction at that other thing, though.]
Like what? [And then, after a moment of thought:] Can you braid?
no subject
Can I ever.
[ the glass is delivered back into kaoru's hand as reki slides in behind him, curiously peering at his friend's reflection in the mirror. ]
Got a brush? And some spray.
no subject
With a crook of his finger he beckons Reki to his bathroom, where he opens a sleek black box containing four wooden combs of different widths and three brushes: boar bristle, round, detangler.
He also opens a cabinet with various styling products on one shelf, and fragrances in elaborate glass bottles on another.]
Be gentle. If there's any breakage, I'll have to charge you for a deep conditioning treatment.
no subject
with the proper amount of careful reverence, he retrieves a bottle from one of the cabinets and twists it in his hand, eyeing the label as he unscrews the cap and sniffs its contents. ]
Relax. Long as you don't thrash around or try to bite me, this is gonna be a treat. Sit down, get comfortable.
no subject
[But, okay, fine. He'll sit down and hope that Reki sniffing his products for unknown reasons isn't a bad omen. He can call the whole thing off at the first sign of trouble anyway, he reasons.]
Do you do this often?
no subject
Every morning, three times in a row. Four if I'm lucky.
[ it's so hard to resist snapping an alligator clip to the tip of kaoru's nose now that he has one. that look crosses his face, and his eyes shift, but ultimately he decides to clip it to his collar and start piecing out kaoru's hair. ]
Yours is the nicest I've ever seen, though.
no subject
Ah. You have sisters, then.
[That much is easy enough to piece together from the context. And it explains why Reki's movements feel so practiced and assured. So far so good, honestly. Not least of all because he gets compliments out of the deal, too.]
I take good care of it.
no subject
[ it's so silky and heavy and a dream to play in. right now, he's carefully crafting a section of hair to curl loosely around his finger and press against the crown of kaoru's head, leaning back to view it from a better angle. ]
We're gonna do somethin' really fun with it, right?
no subject
[He's well aware of what he has going for him. And thank god, it's increasingly seeming like Reki knows what he's doing while he has his hands all up in such a valuable asset.]
Keep in mind that I can and will cancel and refuse to go in public with you if you make me look like a clown. But otherwise... why not? [He's seen paint and graphite smudges on Reki's hands before.] Have your artistic freedom.
no subject
Hell yeah, that's the spirit. Promise you're in good hands.
[ completely smudge-free, for the record, as they trace the hair along kaoru's temple and pin it atop his head. the paint, though, that's never coming off. ]
You guess where we're going yet?
no subject
[He glances down at his fingernails, and after a moment, pulls a glass file out of a drawer. As long as he's sitting here, he might as well have something to do with his hands.]
But I figured I'd let you surprise me this time. Isn't that more interesting?