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The first time Ranpo plops into Poe’s lap without asking, Poe nearly drops his soda all over the couch. “W-what are you doing?!”
“You said to get comfortable, so I did. Hand me the remote, will you?” Ranpo acts like there’s nothing weird about this, like they weren’t still rivals only months ago and on opposite sides of a war. Poe doesn’t even have enough experience to gauge how close their friendship is. And now Ranpo is in Poe’s lap.
Once he gets the movie pulled up, Ranpo sets the remote down and snuggles into Poe’s chest with a pleased hum, pulling Poe’s fuzzy blanket over them both. Poe’s not sure where his hands are supposed to go, but they feel strange just lying at his side, so he slips them around Ranpo hesitantly, hoping that he’s not crossing any lines. Ranpo lays one hand on top of Poe’s and rubs his skin soothingly, so Poe leaves them there.
Poe won’t say it to Ranpo’s face, but it’s a good thing right now that Ranpo is shorter than him. He can still see the television over him and Ranpo’s shoulder will probably make a good spot to rest his chin. He decides to hold off on testing that until Ranpo is more settled in, but he thinks about it. Thinks about resting his head on Ranpo’s shoulder, leaning to the side so that their cheeks touch, feeling Ranpo’s hair brush against his skin, laying kisses on Ranpo’s jaw –
It’s not the first time that Poe has thought about kissing Ranpo, but it is the first time he’s done so while the two of them are touching. Poe inhales sharply at the thought and hopes that his reaction can be attributed to something on the screen, which he hasn’t actually been paying attention to. His stomach flutters because now he can’t stop thinking about kissing Ranpo. It would be so easy to turn his head and kiss Ranpo’s temple, his cheek, the shell of his ear, anything in reach. Maybe Ranpo would turn his head and Poe could touch the lips he’s been thinking about for months.
Ranpo is a source of endless fascination for Poe. He’s silly and serious in turn, lazy, unpredictable, and beautiful. Always beautiful. Poe is still amazed that people don’t see it, or that they can somehow ignore it because Ranpo’s cloak and floppy hat are more conspicuous. He loves every minute that he spends with Ranpo.
The second time Ranpo claims a spot in Poe’s lap, they’re at the Armed Detective Agency. It had taken some coaxing on Ranpo’s part to get Poe to come as his plus-one to the Agency’s party, especially given that Poe had been essentially abandoned the last time Ranpo invited him to a work event. This time, though, Poe is more familiar with the other Agency members; his visits to pick Ranpo up for lunch have allowed him to learn the names and faces of Ranpo’s coworkers. They recognize him too, of course, and Poe accepts an invitation to play cards with Kenji, Atsushi, and Yosano on the sofas. It’s just as Poe starts to relax that Ranpo wanders over to wreak havoc on Poe’s nerves by seating himself on top of Poe, ignoring the open spot next to him.
Poe can feel his whole face burning in embarrassment as Yosano carefully raises one eyebrow and Atsushi’s jaw drops a little. Kenji just blinks at them curiously, probably wondering if this is common in the city. “Ranpo-kun!”
“Ooh, I think I’ve played this game before on my phone,” Ranpo says, ignoring the chaos that he’s caused. “Here, let me just…” he rearranges the cards in Poe’s hand so that there’s no discernable order. “Perfect. Come on, Poe-kun, let’s play as a team.” He pats the side of Poe’s leg and twists his head around, clearly expecting a response from Poe that’s more than just the dial tone going through his mind right now.
“Not in the middle of the hand, Ranpo-san,” Yosano says flatly. “The last time you jumped in partway, you kept trying to change the rules.”
“Well, what if there are multiple sets of rules? Don’t you want to play by the right set for the number of people playing?” Yosano continues to glare. “Fine, I’ll just watch, then.” When it’s clear that he’s not going to move from Poe’s lap, Poe temporarily swallows his mortification and leans forward as far as he can with Ranpo there to play a card. Both fortunately and unfortunately for Poe, this means that they’re close enough for Poe to smell Ranpo’s shampoo. It’s got a fruity scent, possibly pears, and Poe is suddenly struck with the comical image of Ranpo using kids’ shampoo. He bites his lip hard to stifle a giggle, imagining Ranpo stubbornly sticking to the familiar smell, glaring adorably at anyone who suggested that a grown man couldn’t use shampoo from a pear-shaped bottle.
Poe tries hard to pay attention to the game, but he ends up burying his head in the back of Ranpo’s neck to muffle his snickers until it’s his turn again. He thinks he feels a shiver from Ranpo when he pulls away, but he chalks that up to his imagination.
After that, it becomes a habit. Whenever Poe is seated near Ranpo, there’s a good chance that Ranpo will invite himself into Poe’s lap. Ranpo doesn’t really have a concept of where it’s appropriate or inappropriate to do this (or if he does, he doesn’t care), so Poe ends up having to speak up when they’re in public spots like park benches or the train. On one occasion he tries to bring it up in advance on their way to the beach, but Ranpo just waits until Poe is lying on his beach towel before blowing a raspberry on Poe’s stomach and settling in like Poe is his own personal pillow.
When Poe stops getting self-conscious every time Ranpo drops into his lap, he starts to enjoy it. He does give in and nuzzle Ranpo’s hair sometimes, which Ranpo doesn’t seem to mind, and he finds himself drawing comfort from the familiar weight and physical closeness of his friend. Poe’s legs end up falling asleep a lot, but the snuggling more than makes up for it.
It’s on a night like any other that Poe sets his book carefully on the end table and looks down at Ranpo, who’s currently lying in Poe’s lap with his eyes closed. “Why do you do this?” he finally asks, one hand still rubbing circles in Ranpo’s hair.
“Because that’s what people do when they’re dating.”
Poe’s hand jolts from its rhythm. He forces down the hope building up in his chest and mentally replays the words to make sure that he hasn’t misheard. For a brief moment he wonders, absurdly, if they have been dating and Ranpo just forgot to tell him. With Ranpo, Poe could almost imagine it happening. “Ranpo-kun, we’re not – you’ve never asked –”
“Oh, I know we’re not dating yet,” he replies, cutting off that line of thought. “I was just training you.”
“You what?”
Ranpo finally opens his eyes and smiles cheerfully up at Poe. “I was paying attention the first time I curled up with you,” he says. “You didn’t hate it.”
“That’s… true,” Poe admits.
“I kept doing it so that you’d eventually relax. Clever of me, wasn’t it?”
“That’s a very elaborate way to ask someone out,” Poe grumbles, torn between amusement at Ranpo’s antics and embarrassment that he hadn’t caught on. “If you wanted me to get comfortable touching you, you could’ve just kissed me.”
“I tried that once,” Ranpo says, his expression souring comically. “You jerked backwards like a scaredy cat and banged your head on the bookshelves.”
Poe forgets how to breathe. “You were trying to kiss me?” Poe remembers the occasion vividly, remembers that he had wanted to kiss Ranpo too. Ranpo was always dangerously attractive when he got excited about something, and that day was no exception. They’d been in Poe’s study, where he was finally getting around to unboxing his books to put on the new shelves, and Ranpo had found some that he recognized. Time seemed to blur while the two of them talked, and after the conversation trailed off and left them staring at each other, Ranpo had leaned into Poe’s personal space with bright eyes and a brighter smile and suddenly Poe could only think about how badly he needed those lips on his. He’d been struck by the ferocity of his feelings and the proximity of their unknowing recipient, which had led to his thoughtless decision to take a step back into the bookshelves.
Poe wonders if there are other episodes that he needs to reexamine with the context of Ranpo’s confession, but at this moment there’s something even more important to address. “Do you… want to try again?” he asks. “I promise I won’t bump my head on a bookshelf this time.”
Ranpo sits up and scoots onto Poe’s legs, his back against the arm of the couch. He grins at Poe’s muttered “Training me, huh?” and brushes the hair out of Poe’s face. Ranpo stares at him for a moment, now completely serious, before leaning in to press their lips together. Ranpo’s mouth is warm and sweet, even softer than Poe had imagined, and he already knows that he never wants to let go.
In other words, it’s exactly like a first kiss should be, and Poe can’t help but smile as he wraps one arm around the man in his lap to pull him closer.