Storm King
Mar. 12th, 2015 08:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerChapter Summary: Souji and Yosuke are caught in the rain.
Word Count: 1,653
Rating: Teen
Note: ...Relatively spoiler-free, actually. Aside from who's in the team and stuff. SO MUCH FLUFF SO MUCH Also Yosuke being a Jojo's nerd, but what else is new? Also, I want to nickname Souji Souj, even though it makes no sense and probably would never happen in Japan. (If it bugs you, let me know, I can change it.) Clear timeline unsure, hints at a few Golden events but nothing super spoilery.
The storm comes from nowhere, all growling thunder and piercing rain and clashing lightning. It’s not often that the weather lady is wrong, but when she messes it up, she messes up spectacularly. Yosuke spares a thought that it’s lucky no one’s in a dungeon right now, because the Shadows must be going berserk right now, and the stray thought pops into his head that maybe the weather lady’s a Persona-User too, because no one could possibly be that right all the time about the weather, and then shakes his head. Personas aren’t Stands, he reminds himself, no matter the connections they may share. It’s easy enough to forget, when Seta refers to his ever-growing collection of Personas as Stands when they’re alone and that makes Yosuke feel at ease, a little warmer, because he’s not the only geek on this team and maybe that doesn’t make him a loser incapable of social interactions at all. But for all the ‘representation of your will to fight’ that they share, they’re definitely not the same thing. For one thing, Personas are much more streamlined for combat. Not that Stands aren’t usually combat-oriented either, but Personas don’t have the same sort of wacky powers. An elemental spell is an elemental spell, after all, even with Souji’s new Persona Loki and the ultimate ice spell, Niflheim. It’s unlikely that she’d be able to predict the weather with a Persona.
What matters is that, for once, she’s messed up. Which means that if they don’t do something quickly, they’ll get soaked to the bone, probably, and neither of them can really afford to miss days of school because they’re sick. “Hey, Souj, you don’t happen to have…” When he turns to his boyfriend, though, it’s pretty clear the guy doesn’t have his umbrella, or he would’ve taken it out already. Seta’s nothing if not attentive to his Hana-chan’s health, and that nickname doesn’t carry the same sting that it used to.
Yosuke’s words get lost somewhere between his brain and his mouth, and he’s pretty sure he’s forgotten how to breathe. All of a sudden, Izanagi makes sense.
Souji’s tall and fierce and beautiful. There’s a wondering joy on his face that makes Hanamura suddenly forget the sting of the pounding rain on his head and neck and arms. Usually after a downpour like this, Yosuke comes out looking like a half-drowned dog, but Souji…
Souji looks all regal. Like he sometimes looks in the TV World during battle, powerful and enjoying himself. And he’s free. After they worked out some things, he’d started to relax, started to be himself again, lose the hesitance that the Shadow thrust upon him, but now…now he’s free and untamable. The lightning makes his grey eyes flicker. He’s part of the storm.
Yosuke doesn’t want to interrupt the moment. He wants it to last forever, even if before now he’s pretty sure that’s impossible. But his teeth start to chatter pretty hard, and, reluctantly, he reaches out a hand and catches Souji’s sleeve.
Souji shakes himself and comes back. He glances at Yosuke, and instantly there’s concern and awareness. He merely points at the gazebo, which surprisingly enough they’re near, and doesn’t try to speak above the storm. Then he begins to run.
Yosuke tries to follow, but suddenly realizes he has a big problem. Storm King Souji, apparently, turns him on. He tries to follow, but he can’t run as fast, not like this. And if he takes too long, Souji will turn around and see—
He does. He meets Yosuke’s eyes, and looks confused, and then he looks down, frowning, and by this point Yosuke’s probably visible from Junes with the blush he has, even with the rain. He doesn’t look mad or disappointed (and Hanamura probably fears his partner’s disappointment more than his anger), just kind of makes a shy smile that Yosuke’s pretty sure no one but him has seen before, the true Souji, or at least what the guy looks like when he’s not wearing masks, and holds out his hand. They’re closer to the shelter than he thought, which is great, and the Frog Prince hurries over as much as he’s able and quickly sits down, willing himself to calm down, already, this is embarrassing.
Souji looks a bit sad, but understanding, when Yosuke doesn’t trust himself to hold hands just yet. And they look out over the flood plain, which actually will probably be flooded pretty soon if this storm has anything to say about it.
Surprisingly, it’s not terrible to be lost in his own thoughts. Usually it is, worrying about his next shift at Junes or talking to his father or preparing for the TV World, and there’s the whole thing where he’s become Souji’s Second, somehow, the guy that everyone talks to when they don’t want to bother Seta. Not that he minds. It’s nice to have people relying on him for once, to be the dependable guy that no one (least of all himself) thought he could be. Sometimes it can be a little worrying being the one that everyone’s relying on, though, because he doesn’t want to let them down. He’s come to understand his partner so much better, why the guy never wants to slow down, because there’s the chance that if he does he’ll fall and trip, bringing other people’s stuff down with him. His thoughts are being a little ridiculous, but they’re the kind of thoughts that he’s not ashamed of having, not anymore. His brain’s a little silly, but the grey-haired student seems to like it well enough, and that makes him smile and try harder. He can feel the tension leaking out of him as he calms and remembers that, no, neither he nor his partner have to do everything all at once, no matter how much the desire to do so nags at their hearts. There’s a musical nature to the rain that is soothing.
And then he remembers his beloved mp3 player and headphones in his bag, and half panics, digging them out with his heart thudding uncomfortably, and sighs when he realizes that they’re a little damp but still work perfectly. It’s lucky they’re so durable, or they wouldn’t have survived all the bike crashes and other accidents threatening to murder them in their youth. He quickly tugs the headphones down around his neck, a reassuring weight. There’s no need for the music, not with nature playing its storm symphony for them both.
Souji’s laughing at him, his flustered fumbling and his following relief, but it’s not mean laughter and it’s Souji, so it’s okay if someone is laughing at him for once, even though it reawakens the flush just a little.
He sticks out his tongue and finds that he’s no longer aroused. There’s just a sweet contentment in his heart that’s replaced it, though, which is more than okay.
His partner chuckles a little louder, and it’s then that Yosuke realizes the rain has become mezzo-piano. Or would’ve, anyway, if it was really music, if this wasn’t just some weird metaphor.
“Maybe if it calms down a little more, I could treat you to Aiya’s. I’m pretty sure I can beat the Beef Bowl now, or at least get really, really close.” He’s still alive in a way he hadn’t been after Nanako, after that big scare of a cold in January.
Yosuke can’t help but grin back, even adding in a wink. He’s feeling more his usual self, and Souji is too, which pretty much has the two of them grinning at each other like idiots. But it’s sweet and it’s them and Yosuke’s willing to undergo Nanako’s tests just to make sure he’s worthy of her big bro (even though she kind of approves of him anyway because he’s the Prince of Junes) and Dojima’s constant glares (which, yeah, okay, he’s pretty sure the police officer hasn’t nor probably ever will forgive him for the Katana Incident) and Chie’s teasing and Rise’s disapproval (though she’s starting to thaw) and even Teddie’s constant asking whether he’s scored with Sensei yet and if he’ll explain how scoring works and all the rest of the nonstop questions, so he’s pretty sure it’s love and it’s a bond he never wants to let go and will treasure for the rest of his life. “As long as it’s not cutting down on our TV spending money.” It’s not. At least, not in a way that’ll make any serious dent. The pool is actually looking pretty good now that Yosuke’s doing secondary dungeon runs with his own teams for yen, and every week Kanji and Naoto-kun and Yukiko add just a little to the growing pile. Of course, things are getting hideously expensive, but they’re still doing pretty well. Yosuke had tried, briefly, to argue, but between Kanji gently punching his shoulder, which later bruised, and Yukiko glaring, which is one of the scariest things Yosuke’s ever seen and that’s counting his Shadow, he gave up.
Aika rides by with what looks like another delivery order, looking barely wet on her moped, and Yosuke spares a thought for impossible delivery girls with Stands before Souji’s smile and wave catches his attention. She waves back, and Yosuke smiles, but she’s quickly gone. Steaming hot food waits for no one, apparently.
“I wouldn’t use that for dates,” Souji states softly, and, yeah, okay, the storm really is beginning to let up because otherwise Yosuke couldn’t have possibly heard that. Maybe that’s what Souji was intending. He doesn’t know.
He glances down again to see Souji’s hand looking lonely. Can hands even look lonely? …Well, it looks lonely anyway, or maybe Souji does, and he reaches down and entwines his fingers with his partner’s, and the resulting smile is blinding, like the sun coming out.
Maybe storms are beginning to grow on Yosuke. Just a little.
