Kaoru rubbed his arms with his open palm. It was getting rapidly colder in here.
"You got any more water? I'm parched," Eli asked, voice raspy.
Kaoru glanced over at him, studying the puffy, dried lips.
A pointy finger poked him in the side. "Oi! Water?"
He hastily nodded over at his bag.
Eli didn't hesitate. He pulled the bag onto his lap and scurried through it. "You got anything else in here? Some snacks?" More side zippers were opened, more things being carelessly pushed around.
"Oh, what's this?" Eli asked, a devilish smirk forming on his face.
Kaoru's heart began to drill against his chest like a jackhammer. "What?"
Satoru cackled and threw a small plastic bag at him. "What do you do at work?"
In absolute horror, Kaoru stared at the zipper bag containing a half-empty bottle of lube (which he'd been looking for) and two, unused condoms.
"That's..." His face was burning so much, it'd pass for a fever. "I didn't know those were in there."
The cackling intensified. "Right."
Kaoru tossed the bag back at Eli with slightly too much force, frustrated over his own embarrassment. "I used the bag for a sleepover, I forgot to unpack some stuff. That's all."
Eli tilted his head. "What kind of sleepover?" His face took on an expression Kaoru had trouble deciphering. Could it be jealousy? (It was)
"Uhm," he avoided the intense look in Eli's eyes, focusing his gaze instead on the pile of their combined clothing on the floor. "The hook-up kind?"
Eli laughed carefreely and opened the bag, emptying its contents. "Naked sensations, huh?"
"Stop reading that!"
"Kaoru, if you can't talk about it you shouldn't be doing it in the first place," Eli told him in a mocking, lecturing tone.
"Oh, shut up!"
Eli cackled some more, then threw the bag carelessly into a corner. He unscrewed the water bottle and took a long sip. Like the pull of a magnet, Kaoru's eyes were glued back to watching Eli, hypnotized by the bop of his Adam's apple as he swallowed the pool of liquid down.
"What about you?"
"Huh?"
"Do you-" How was he ever going to phrase this without making his intentions clear? "You know?"
Eli laughed so much, he almost choked on the water and ended up clutching his belly, full body shaking. Kaoru should have been offended, but he couldn't. For some reason he wasn't offended.
"No, no sleepovers," Eli eventually answered, breathlessly and still coughing out a few leftover chuckles.
He must be in a relationship. Of course, he was. Someone like Eli probably got fifty confessions every single day in his life. No way could someone like him not have found someone by now. He could have anyone.
Come to think of it, Eli was probably straight. The fact that they were both half-naked with Eli not giving a single fuck about it. Eli probably hadn't thought twice about it when he'd stripped off his clothes in front of another dude. It was just friendly locker-room banter. Nothing to take seriously
Suguru pulled his knees into his chest, feeling once again exposed and, well, ashamed for having slightly lusted over someone in a steady relationship.
"So, uhm, how long have you been dating?"
"Huh? Date who?" The look of initial confusion cleared on Eli's face. He rewarded Kaoru with a soft smile. "Nah, I just meant that I never turn it into a sleepover when I bring a guy home."
"So... no partner?" Kaoru, in his complete ecstasy, dared to clarify.
"Free as a bird," Eli casually motioned at the bag of condoms in the corner. "We could fuck 'til they let us out of here."
"Yeah, ha ha." Despite the uncomfortable cold in the elevator, Kaoru felt his face heating up as he forced himself to mimic Eli's relaxed laugh.
Eli returned to ferociously rubbing his upper arm. He made a displeased face. "It would keep us warm at least."
Kaoru's betraying eyes fell to their abandoned clothes on the floor. Was Kaoru reading too much into it again or was it a sign that neither one of them had bothered to redress yet?
Just as the thought had formed in Kaoru's mind, Eli stood up and walked over to the pile of clothes, picking up his shirt. With his arms lifted, his taunt stomach became impossibly leaner, displaying the outline of his ribs, stretching the center line of his abs. The fluff of hair disappeared momentarily as he pulled the white shirt over his head. Except... except this was Kaoru's shirt?
Kaoru looked at him confused. Eli had looked unfairly hot in his designer shirt.
"Did I put it on the wrong way?" Eli asked, and, at this point, Kaoru began to seriously question if the innocent display was just an act. But then again, perhaps, that was just hopeful thinking.
"That's, my shirt" Kaoru said, a slight tone of frustration in his voice.
"Sorry, I just picked the first one off the floor. You can wear mine?" Eli gave him a lopsided grin, white teeth shining, blue eyes sparkling.
Kaoru nodded in a dazy state, then walked over to stand next to Eli to pick up the blue button shirt. He didn't bother buttoning it up. It smelled like Eli. The scent of deodorant, body wash, and cologne was all still lingering on the shirt.
"It suits you," Eli complimented. Their shoulders brushed. "A bit too big though."
Kaoru took a step away from him and shook out the sleeves that fit perfectly. "You think so? I thought we were about the same height."
It felt like it fit perfectly. He'd never thought a shirt could provide him with the equivalence of a warm hug but here it was.
However, Eli's comment made him doubt himself. Despite the goosebumps on his still exposed legs, Kaoru's face was heating up again and he pulled his neck to his chest, trying to see what the shirt actually looked like on his body.
"Let's see," Eli said, crossing the distance between them once more and stopping directly in front of Kaoru, just a shy movement away from letting the tips of their noses touch.
His eyes were fucking hypnotizing, Kaoru didn't even dare to blink.
"I think I'm a bit taller," Eli concluded.
Kaoru disagreed. He had lost to Eli in every other department so far, he would not play down his own height.
"No way, your hair's just more puffy."
Suddenly, his vision became blocked. Kaoru's eyes fluttered shut without meaning to.
Before he could even register what was happening. Eli's hand cradled Kaoru's cheek and soft, warm lips were pushing against his.
"How long do you think we've been in here?" Eli asked when he pulled away.
Kaoru was too focused on the pounding of his heart and the growing anger at himself for actually enjoying that. A few seconds delayed, he licked his lips and shrugged. "I dunno. Three hours?"
"That kiss has been three hours overdue, don't you think?" Eli smiled and Kaoru- well, Kaoru's stomach just violently exploded with butterflies.
