Work Text:
Nakamaru stepped into his new study. He was excited to finally be at a place where he had an extra room purely for his work, rather than trying to cram his computer desk into the corner of his living room.
He opened the curtains to let some light in the room only to be confronted with the sight of a half-naked man through the window of the apartment directly opposite. Said half-naked man luckily had his back turned to the window and was currently pulling on a t-shirt. Nakamaru watched as he tugged the shirt over his head, his shoulder muscles rippling as the fabric slid over them and fell down to his slim waist. The man started to half-turn and Nakamaru quickly pulled the curtains closed again, not wanting to be caught ogling. And why was he ogling anyway? he scolded himself. Just because the neighbour appeared to have a nice body didn't mean he had to stare at it like a horny teenager.
When the real estate agent had shown him the apartment he had noted the window and been happy, thinking this room would be an ideal home office. He hadn't questioned why the curtains had been shut (or now that he thought about it, why there had even been curtains up at all since the apartment had come unfurnished). Clearly it had been to cover up the fact that it stared straight onto a neighbouring apartment. No less, what appeared to be the bedroom of said apartment.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, he tried to reason. It was still quite early. If his neighbour worked regular hours, he probably wouldn't even be home while Nakamaru was in his office and if he had to work in the evenings he could keep the curtains drawn.
He set to work unpacking his boxes and setting up his computer and workstation, taking the time to make sure everything was just right. There was no hurry - he'd taken a few days off work while he moved apartments and he didn't officially have to start again until tomorrow.
He was affixing a clock to the wall when he realised it had been at least a couple of hours since he'd started. He glanced over at curtains. It was probably safe to open them now, he reasoned. He slowly made his way over to them and peeked around one side of them. He couldn't see anybody in the room across. He breathed a sigh of relief and opened the curtains properly.
It took him a moment to notice the piece of paper taped to the window. It read,
Hi New Neighbour (with what appeared to be a roughly drawn hand held up in greeting)
"Eh!" he cried out. Crap, he must have been seen earlier after all. What did he do now? Should he reply?
He hurried back to his desk and grabbed the small whiteboard he used for writing down his tasks for the day, and a marker pen. He looked down at the board and wrote "Hi" back. Should he write his name? His neighbour hadn't given his name. Maybe he wouldn't want a reply at all. It might have just been a polite way of letting Nakamaru know that he knew someone was there now and didn't appreciate being spied on. But then there was the waving hand - that surely signified friendliness?
He was still deciding whether to write more when movement at the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned to see his neighbour entering the bedroom. He looked over and caught Nakamaru's eye. Nakamaru felt his breath catch in his throat. If he thought the back view looked good (and he did), it had nothing on the front view.
To cover his embarrassment at staring yet again, he quickly held up his board with still just the simple greeting on it. His neighbour smiled, but then held up a finger for Nakamaru to wait. He quickly exited the bedroom. Nakamaru leaned to the left to try and see if he could follow where the man was going, but the next window was too far away and the wrong angle to make anything out.
The man returned a few moments later with some more papers and a marker pen.
The whiteboard is a nice touch, I'll have to get one, he wrote.
Nakamaru quickly erased his hi and wrote:
I had it on hand. I use it for work.
You work from home?
Mostly. I'm a graphic designer so it's often just as easy to work from home. I go to the office a couple of times a week, mainly for meetings. You?
The man shrugged. My schedule is a little different.
Are you a model? He was probably a model, with that face and that body.
The man tilted his head cutely and smirked before shrugging his shoulders. Instead of answering the question he asked a new one.
Do you have a name? Or do I have to call you Mr Stay-at-home worker?
Since Model-man didn't answer his question, Nakamaru decided not to answer either, at least until he got some sort of response that wasn't just another question. He turned his whiteboard around:
You first.
Model-man narrowed his eyes, but then he turned to his paper and started to work. It took a few minutes but when he finally held up his paper, instead of words there was a couple of pictures. Perhaps Model-man thought he was being cute by drawing since Nakamaru had stated he was a graphic designer, but art clearly wasn't his forte. Nakamaru wrote back:
???Is this an apple-pen joke I'm not getting???
The man pointed at himself and then at the first picture again. Nakamaru stared at the picture for a moment - some kind of animal, with a round body and four little legs sticking out two on each side, and what Nakamaru assumed was an elongated head coming from the front. Model-man had drawn cross hatching on the body. No, maybe that wasn't a body, but a shell.
Kame?
Model-man nodded then pointed at the next picture.
Apple?
A shake of the head and a tap against the second picture. It was a little rounder at the bottom than at the top. A pear, maybe? He quickly wrote it down and held it up. Model-man nodded again and then mimed putting the two together.
Kame-nashi?
Model-man, no, Kamenashi gave him a thumbs up.
Your turn.
Well he supposed it was only fair.
Nakamaru Yuichi
Kame frowned and then held up his sheets of paper, all used up.
I should probably be getting back to unpacking anyway. Back at work tomorrow.
Kamenashi nodded in understanding. Nakamaru bit his lip, considering, before he quickly scrubbed out the last message and wrote:
It was fun chatting with you
He held it up before he could change his mind.
***
After their chat, Kame had left the bedroom with a wave and a wink, which had Nakamaru feeling rather flustered. He decided it was probably about time for lunch anyway - maybe some food and drink would calm him down.
As he ate, he scrolled through his phone messages. His art director and direct senior Inohara-san had sent him a message to expect the details from their latest clients wishes. Rather than email, he was sending them by courier, since the clients had been hacked recently by a competitor and were now paranoid about using the internet. Nakamaru shook his head at that - they did realise they were hiring them to design a web page. He texted back that maybe they should bring in Ninomiya and his tech security firm to put the clients minds at ease about any future breaches.
The only other message was one from Massu wanting to know when they were going to catch up for a celebratory drink to commemorate his move. He left answering that one for the moment - knowing he'd have to do some research on the bars and restaurants around the area first. He wondered if he could ask Kamenashi, assuming they messaged again. Maybe he could even ask him to join them. The thought sent a thrill through Nakamaru.
After lunch, he got back to work unpacking the last few boxes and setting the study up. He couldn't help but look out the window every now and then but Kamenashi didn't reappear.
He'd just put the finishing touches to the room when a knock sounded at the door. That must be the delivery man.
He opened the door to find a young man dressed like a Prince out of a fairy tale - black polished shoes, white pants, a knee-length white coat with silver trim, black epaulets, and gold buttons, medals on the chest. Underneath was a gold sparkly waistcoat, a white bowtie and a red sash completed the look.
"King & Prince Delivery Service. Hirano Sho, at your service."
He bowed formally and while his upper half was parallel to the ground he thrust out his hands, holding a large envelope stuffed full, nearly smacking Nakamaru in the chin. He dodged back just in time. Nakamaru took the envelope out of the man's hands.
"You can stop bowing now," he suggested once he had it. Hirano stood up straight again and smiled. It was pretty dazzling, but for some reason Nakamaru couldn't help but think of Kamenashi's cute smirk instead. Maybe Kame wasn't a model but a prince too. He shook his head to clear it of such nonsense fantasies. In front of him, Hirano still stood smiling, as if he wasn't in the least bit fazed by people descending into fancy delusions in front of him. And maybe he wasn't - with his get-up and looks he probably caught a lot of such actions - but perhaps not a lot of 30 plus year old men (even if they had been thinking of someone else). He cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"Do you need me to sign for it?" he asked, to break the silence.
Hirano blinked in confusion for a moment and then seemed to come back to his senses. "Ah, yes. Sorry?"
He pulled out a small handheld device with a stylus pen and Nakamaru signed in the appropriate place.
"Thank you for using King & Prince Delivery Service. Please consider using us again. We promise your glass slipper will make it safely home."
From the way Hirano's face was screwed up in concentration as he delivered the line it sounded like Hirano had been practicing all the way over from the office. Nakamaru chuckled a little as he closed the door. It was certainly an unusual and interesting concept for a delivery service, although he wasn't sure their slogan was fitting - didn't the prince try the slipper on half the Kingdom before he found out it was Cinderella's?
***
So you never told me what you did for a living?
Nakamaru sat on the windowsill of his study, the light breeze cooling down the room. Across from him Kamenashi was doing the same. They were so close they probably could have spoken without raising their voices too much, but they stuck with messaging - after not seeing him for a few days, Kamenashi had shown up tonight with his own small whiteboard and marker pen - so as not to disturb the neighbours. They'd been "talking" for hours at this point, with the occasional bit of flirting - Kamenashi, Nakamaru learned quickly, liked to tease. Surprisingly, he'd held his own a couple of times, making the other man flustered. Nakamaru wondered if writing it down somehow made it easier than saying it.
Guess?
Nakamaru gave a disapproving and frustrated pout that Kamenashi surely couldn't miss. He'd already guessed the other day.
Pop-Idol?
Kamenashi snickered, his laugh echoing across the gap. Just that itself sent shivers down Nakamaru's spine, he tried to picture what Kamenashi's actual speaking voice would sound like - would it have that slight rasp that carried through his laugh, the sensual undertones, or was Nakamaru just making all that up in his head?
There's no way I could do that, he wrote.
I don't know, I could imagine you up on stage, mesmerising people with the way you sway your hips to the music.
Want a demonstration?
Kamenashi raised one perfectly manicured eyebrow, deliberately shooting Nakamaru a sultry, suggestive look. He started to rise up slowly, but stopped when Nakamaru held up a hand in abeyance.
I'm good, he wrote quickly. He didn't think he could quite handle that just yet.
Kamenashi laughed again - he'd won this round.
***
They 'talked' a number of times over the week. Whatever Kamenashi's job was, he was around, at all different times of the day, so they had no set encounter time. Nakamaru found himself leaving the curtains open more and more and constantly looking over his shoulder as he worked, so he wouldn't miss any opportunity.
For his part Kamenashi, seemed to hold back on his personal life a lot. Oh, could talk for hours on baseball (especially baseball), or other sports, or the news or happenings in the neighbourhood, but he revealed very little about himself. When Nakamaru called him out on it once, he claimed it was to keep an air of mystery, to make sure Nakamaru stayed interested and didn't get bored. Nakamaru nearly replied that he was plenty interested, but he reconsidered at the last minute (that may have been too forward) and instead replied that if he sat through all the baseball talk, when his main sport of interest was soccer, then he was sure Kamenashi didn't have anything to worry about on that front. He thought Kamenashi might have blushed at that, but it was slightly too far for Nakamaru to tell for sure - maybe his intentions had gone through anyway.
The only downside was that with them using whiteboards, there was no record of their conversations. No way to look back on what was said. It made the whole thing seem so ephemeral, like it could be gone with no trace at any moment. Nakamaru found himself disturbed by the thought.
***
"King & Prince Delivery Service. Hirano Sho, at your service."
"Ahhh," Nakamaru gestured for Sho to stop as he began his bow. This time he was holding a much bigger package, and Nakamaru didn't want to risk being hit in the face with that. "I remember, I remember. No need to bow."
"You remember me?" Hirano seemed surprised but pleased.
Nakamaru just nodded his assent. When Sho handed over the package, Nakamaru looked at it carefully - he hadn't been expecting any packages. Sure enough, the address on it was for next door. He handed it back.
"This package isn't mine." He pointed his thumb to the left to indicate it's true place. "It's for the apartment next door."
"I know," Sho answered, a pained expression crossing his face.
"Well, then shouldn't you take it there?"
Hirano shook his head. "Scary," he exclaimed.
"Eh?"
Hirano pointed to the door of his neighbour's apartment. "He's scary." He passed the package back to Nakamaru again. "Could you sign for it and give it to him?"
"You want me to deliver the package?"
Hirano put his hands together in a pleading gesture. "Please," he entreated.
Nakamaru sighed and rolled his eyes, but he agreed, signing for the package
He walked to the door of his neighbour and knocked. From down the hallway he heard a noise and looked back to find Hirano peeking around the corner of the hallway. Nakamaru made a shoo-ing gesture before returning to his task. He knocked, once, twice, before the door was answered.
"What?" the man in front of him frowned like he was being bothered for no good reason.
Nakamaru could see why poor young Hirano would be intimidated by this man - his spiky blond hair and ripped shirt, no not ripped, just open, like he'd forgotten how to use the buttons, and a sour expression.
"I just moved in next door, and this package was accidentally delivered to me." Nakamaru held up the package. His neighbour's expression softened as he took the package.
"Thanks. New, huh?"
"Yes, I've been here about a week."
"You wanna come in?"
"Sure, I guess. If you don't mind. I'm Nakamaru Yuichi, by the way." He thought if he was going to be invited over, he should at least introduce himself.
The man waved off his protests. "Ueda Tatsuya."
Ueda's apartment was extremely sparsely furnished. There was no couch or armchairs, just an empty space with a beanbag pushed into the corner. Through an open door, Nakamaru could see a piano and in another, a bed. Around the kitchenette there were at least a few stools and Nakamaru chose one to sit as Ueda offered him a drink. He accepted gracefully.
"So, how are you finding the place?"
"Good. I must confess, I wasn't expecting the next building over to be quite so close. It didn't look it from the outside."
Ueda laughed, and it was bright and cheerful, totally at odds with the first impression he gave. He wondered how many people looked past that to see the real man underneath. "Yeah, they got all of us with that one."
"Still it hasn't been all bad." Now that he thought about it, he wondered if you could see the rest of Kamenashi's apartment from Ueda's windows. The angle seemed right. "Do you see much of the guy living across from you?"
"Who Kame? Yeah he's around a fair bit." Nakamaru felt a stab of jealousy at the casual way that Ueda said Kamenashi's name, and not even his full name, but a nickname. Maybe his messaging wasn't so special after all?
"He seems nice."
Ueda grinned, like he had Nakamaru's measure. "Hot, you mean." And he was right.
"That too," Nakamaru admitted. "We've been sort of talking through the windows, with signboards." It sounded kind of silly out loud, but this man did seem to know Kamenashi, well enough to call him Kame, perhaps Nakamaru could glean some more info out of him.
Ueda looked confused. "Why don't you just text him?"
"Well we haven't actually exchanged phone numbers."
Ueda gave him a 'you're weird' look, but didn't comment further. He was probably right - it was weird in a way in this age of mobile phones and being connected 24/7 with the world - but for some reason it had never really crossed Nakamaru's mind to swap numbers. Texting seemed so impersonal and lifeless compared to the way they were communicating now - how was Nakamaru supposed to see the way the expressions flickered across Kamenashi's face through words on a phone screen.
"Do you know if he's seeing anyone?"
Nakamaru held his breath as Ueda considered the question. "I don't think so," he mused eventually, and Nakamaru breathed a sigh of relief. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"
"He can be rather evasive at times."
"Annoying isn't he? Still he can hardly be evasive if you're standing face-to-face, rather than talking through messages."
"And how should I do that - just go and knock on his door?"
Ueda gestured to the both of them. "It can work." Before Nakamaru could respond that that wasn't the same at all, he added. "We go to the same gym, you could tag along next time."
"Really?"
Ueda nodded, pulling the package Nakamaru had given him closer from where he had thrown it on the kitchen bench. "I've been waiting for these to arrive for ages, but I suppose I could wait another day so we can catch Kame on his usual gym day."
"What is that anyway?"
Ueda ripped open the packaging and pulled out a pair of black boxing gloves. "My new gloves."
*****
When they got to the gym, Ueda moved straight past the regular gym equipment to the back of the room where a little boxing ring and punching bags were set up.
"Wanna spar?" he asked as he threw a pair of gloves and headgear at Nakamaru. Nakamaru caught it and looked at it apprehensively.
"All right?" he agreed. "I haven't really done this before though."
"That's okay, I'll go easy on you."
Ueda's idea of going easy on him didn't seem to be very easy and after about ten minutes, Nakamaru gave up in favor of watching. With a proper partner in the ring, Ueda let loose and Nakamaru was very glad he wasn't on the receiving end of that anymore.
Ueda was taking a break - Nakamaru handing him a water bottle - when his eyes lit up and he gestured with his chin to the front of the gym. Nakamaru turned his head and there was Kame, entering. He moved past the equipment and began doing some stretches on small empty space near the treadmills. Nakamaru watched, mesmerised, until Ueda elbowed him in the ribs and got him back into action. He circled around the area where Kame was stretching, passing behind him until he reached the closest treadmill. He set himself on the machine and set it to a medium pace - he didn't want to run out of breath, or get too sweaty, and at this angle he had an even better view of Kamenashi's assets as he moved.
When Kame had finished his stretches he turned towards the equipment. It took him a moment to register Nakamaru and his face seemed surprised. "Nakamaru?"
Nakamaru had imagined how Kame's voice would be, how he would sound saying Nakamaru's name, but he hadn't prepared himself at all for the reality.
"I see you found the local gym."
"Ueda-kun showed me," Nakamaru answered, gesturing over to where Ueda was once again in the ring. Kame followed his gaze before turning his attention back to Nakamaru, leaning on the bars of the treadmill Nakamaru was using and looking up at him through his lashes. The site was both hot and adorable at the same time and Nakamaru found himself more out of breath than the level of exercise he was doing justified.
Kame didn't seem to be affected by Nakamaru's presence at all. "Has he asked you to spar with him yet?"
"I gave up pretty fast," Nakamaru admitted.
"Probably the sensible move."
"That's me. Mr Sensible." It was probably a bad move to admit it when you were trying to impress someone, but Nakamaru didn't want to start out by giving the wrong impression of who he was - and besides Kame had probably realised already through their window talks.
"Sensible is sexy." Kame's voice lowered as he uttered those words, and once again his expression showed his own sex appeal, before he grinned, skipping away to another of the gyms workout equipment.
"Lucky me then," Nakamaru muttered as he hopped off the treadmill and followed in Kame's footsteps.
*****
They stayed at the gym for another hour or so, quickly settling into a routine where they could banter back and forth. Talking face-to-face was slightly more nerve wracking than over message board, but it was easier on the wrists.
After they showered - Kame looked wistfully at the sauna for a few moments as they dressed - he turned to Nakamaru.
"Walk me home." It was more a statement that he didn't expect disagreement on than a question.
Nakamaru could only nod. "Sure. What about Ueda?" He'd lost track of the other man somewhere along the way.
"He's a big boy, I'm sure he can find his own way."
"You have a point. Well then, shall we?" Nakamaru stuck out his elbow as if he were a gentleman offering to escort a lady home in some old-fashioned movie. It was mostly a joke so he was a little taken aback when Kame brought his hand up to rest on the arm, accepting the offer. Nakamaru glanced around to see if anyone had noticed but people seemed to be mostly caught up in their own business.
"Let's go then."
They walked out of the gym and down the road. It hadn't been far to their apartment blocks but they took their time, enjoying the cool night air.
"So, are you ever going to tell me what you do for a living? Or am I right that you're a model and you just don't want to admit it."
Kame grinned. "Honestly you were closer with the idol guess." At Nakamaru's surprised reaction, he added. "I'm a Dancer."
"What type of dance?"
"Mostly contemporary, but I trained in all the classics."
"Do you perform? I'd like to see that sometime."
Kame's grin widened and his face took on the expression that told Nakamaru he was about to be teased again.
"Ah, yes, I remember. What was it you said? You wanted to see my hips swaying." He laughed and skipped out in front of Nakamaru, his hips being to move from side to side as he shook his bottom. Nakamaru reached out almost instinctively, grabbing Kame by the hips to stop his movements.
"Careful," he warned, "You don't know what you might start doing that." His own voice was husky with arousal, the sight of Kame's swiveling hips causing more than just feelings to stir inside Nakamaru.
"Oooh," Kame's voice was half-surprised, half amused. "This is a new side to you." He spun in Nakamaru's grip, so he was facing him. "I like it." He lifted up slightly, and Nakamaru could feel Kame's breath on his face for a second before their lips connected. They stayed like that for a while, exploring each other's mouths
"Mmmm," Kame hummed as the kiss broke, "I like the way you walk me home."
"We're not home yet," Nakamaru answered.
****
The next morning, Nakamaru had the odd sensation of looking at his study through the opposite window. Like he and Kame had somehow swapped spaces. Except that Kame was laying next to him, still sound asleep. He murmured and shifted slightly as Nakamaru left the bed - it almost sounded like a protest, even from within deep sleep. Nakamaru smiled softly down at him. He supposed they wouldn't need to pass messages across the window anymore. He padded out to Kame's kitchen, looking for a glass of water. He looked out the window as he drank - that must be Ueda's apartment, it almost looked empty from over here - when he noticed a piece of paper stuck to the window. He moved closer, squinting to try and read it better.
If you're going to make out in Kame's living room, for god's sake, close the curtains.