It Caught On in a Flash

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points: Persona 4 AU
Chapter Summary: Yosuke calls needing Souji's help a couple weeks before Halloween.
Word Count: 696
Rating: T
Note:  The souji/yosuke tag is for what is probably flirting but certainly isn't any stronger than in the actual game or anime.  Title is, yes, a reference.

 

            “Yo, partner, are you busy?”  The Magician would have been overly polite about the whole thing, in a really casual manner.  Yosuke would have begged, pleaded, and generally not thought about someone else’s feelings in the matter.  Souji’s seeing more of The Magician in Yosuke and Yosuke in The Magician, and he likes it.

            Souji sighs and stares down at his book.

            “It’s okay.  I guess I can handle—” Yosuke states, sounding quiet and subdued and the leader realizes that the silence was taken to be a yes.  Well, he was really trying to decide whether the answer was yes, and staring at the problems he realizes that he really, really did not want to do homework right now.  It’s rare enough he can let himself off the hook, right?

            “You don’t have to,” he states suddenly, quietly, throwing Yosuke off.

            After some spluttering, the brunet calms down.  “Uh, meet me at Junes, I guess.”

            Not too long after, Souji’s at Junes with a promise to Nanako to buy dinner there later.  It takes him a few seconds to recognize Yosuke.  His hair’s not its normal color.

            “Hey.”  Hands are tucked in pockets, so Souji can’t see them fidget and realize how nervous he is, probably.

            “What’s…your hair.”  Souji can’t find the question he wants to ask, which amuses the musician.

            “I haven’t dyed it for a few days.  Since I got sick, really.  At first it was just ‘cause I didn’t feel like it, but then I thought, hey, y’know, this is my chance to do a different costume.  I was thinking I might do a werewolf, but.”  He’s biting his lip, really unsure, and that’s nothing like the calm, suave Magician, but then, he hadn’t been told it was okay to be hesitant, to not be so perfect all the time.

            Souji smiles and resists the urge to reach out and grab one of the hands from the pockets in reassurance.  Just because they’d reconnected and expressed interest, well.

            They weren’t dating yet, and you didn’t just do things like that out of the blue.

            “I’m sure you’ll look good in whatever you choose.”  If Yosuke could randomly compliment his looks, he could do the same in return.

            He gets a bit of a blush that’d be all but hidden under spotlights.  “What are you thinking about?”

            The student shrugs.  “I didn’t really have a preference.”

            “Well, um.”  One of the hands makes its way out of a pocket to rub the back of his head.  “Junes is putting on a Halloween party.  It’s all day, since people might have shifts, and it’s pretty much only for employees, but.  I was pretty much given permission to invite anybody I wanted, and you guys have become so important to me, and.  So I wanted to invite you guys.  Except Halloween costumes are required, and well.  I’ve been asking around, and I’m pretty sure nobody’s actually bothered to get a costume, either because they don’t have a lot of pocket money or they aren’t that interested.  So I was thinking, I’ve got money from the whole stage gig, and this way I could put it to good use.  Except I want a second opinion on the costumes, and…”

            Souji licks his lips, aware that kissing a nervous and rambling Yosuke is a very effective way to shut him up, but he’s not entirely certain it’s appropriate at the moment.  By the way the boy’s voice trails off, eyes fixed on Souji’s face, it seems like the thought worked anyway.

            “If you want to buy clothing in their sizes, it might be difficult to keep this a surprise,” he responds instead when his mind fails to give him anything better.

            At this, a show-off grin appears on Yosuke’s face.  “Don’t worry about that.”

            Souji raises an eyebrow.  “Should I be worried that you know the girls’ sizes?”

            “Nah.  I’m pretty sure Rise could do it too; it’s a stage thing.  Though we’re nowhere near as good as the costume designers.  Which is probably good, because you’d want them to be great at their jobs.  Come on, then.”  And Seta-kun’s relegated to following the cheerful voice inside.