FicWad

Kei sat on the couch, cigarette in one hand and a novel in the other. There was some western style classical music playing on their stolen boom box. Flipping to the next page, he resisted the desire to check the clock one more time. He looked at the book, and realized that he remembered absolutely nothing about the last three chapters. Kei glanced at the clock. It was ten fifteen at night.

One side of Kei was thrilled. Sho had not shown up in tears, crying that the night had been a disaster. Another side of Kei was pissed. How could he go out and have a fun time, without him? Then he would get depressed. What if Sho decided to leave him, and live with Mika? Then again, this was just a first date, and Mika seemed like a proper lady, nothing would happen beyond a small kiss, right?

Slamming the book shut and tossing it on the coffee table, Kei took a long drag off the coffin nail and stared at the ceiling. Quit being selfish, he griped at himself. Sho is growing up, he would eventually need to go his own way. That thought froze Kei in mid-breath.

Sho was growing up, and that meant that eventually, Sho would grow old. His 'little brother' would be an old man, and the time would come that he would have to move on once more. He would wander again, no one there for comfort or friendship. He would lose the one person that had never offered fear or revulsion for his condition. That was a scary thought.

Instead of sitting there and driving himself up the walls, Kei decided to go for a walk. Locking the door behind him, he headed down the stairs and hit the streets. Not really looking where he was going, Kei looked up when his name was called out.

"Hiya Kei. Where's Sho tonight? I figured you two were attached at the hip." Kei looked up, to find himself standing in front of Happy Pizza, and Toshi had spotted him. "Come, pull up a chair, I'm on break for a few minutes. What's next on the plate for us?"

Kei took a seat, flopping into the metal framed chair. Toshi took a long look at Kei's face, and realized that something was bothering his friend. "You look like someone ran over your cat, though I happen to know you don't have a cat. What's bothering you?"

"Sho is.. Sho is growing up on me," Kei answered.

"Well, we don't live forever. Life goes on, man. We get born, we grow up, we get old, we pass away. That's just the way it works." Toshi took a seat by Kei, then continued. "We have our fun, and we live in the moment, or we sit around and moan that we don't live forever. Well, I don't want to live forever, and watch the world pass me by. I live for today, that's all I can do, and stay sane. If you worry about tomorrow too much, today tends to lose it's shine."

Kei looked up at this. "You know, you're not as dense as you pretend to be. Thanks for the pick-me-up, I guess I need to chill out about life, and just try to not worry too much."

Toshi smiled. "Want something to eat? I get a free pizza when I'm on break."

"Umm, I'll pass. But thanks for the offer. I need to get some clean air, I'm going for a walk."

Toshi smiled, putting his cap back on and standing up. "No problem. Just keep Sho out of trouble, or Shinji will gripe at you some more. I'm going to get my food, it should be out of the oven by now. Take care."

Kei walked for another hour, then headed home. The apartment was still empty, and he thought for a moment that a fish would be nice to keep him company. After all, fish didn't care what kind of hours you lived or what you drank or ate to survive. Just feed them, he mused, and they love you in their fishy way. Settling into the couch, Kei found himself dozing when the door finally opened. Taking a glance at the clock, it was about three in the morning.

Sho walked in as silently as he could, trying to not disturb Kei. It didn't work. Kei sat up, took one look at Sho, and grinned.

"So, how did it go, lover boy?"

Sho stumbled to the couch, and flopped down, missing the cushion and thumping on the floor. He turned and grinned at Kei. "Oh, my legs are sore..."

Kei almost freaked. Had it gone that far on a first date? "Are you... alright?"

Sho straightened his legs under the coffee table, not bothering to actually get on the couch. "I didn't know... she likes to dance..."

"Dance??"

"Yeah. She goes to this club, and dances every night. Dinner went great, and she invited me to go dancing with her. Then I walked her home. I never knew you could get that much of a work out, just dancing." Sho tried to get off the floor, and failed miserably. Instead, he slid his upper body to the floor, ending up flat on the floor and looking at the ceiling.

"Got any suggestions on how I can make it to bed without falling over?"

Kei could not fight it anymore. It started with a snicker, then grew to a full laugh. "You... danced... all night?!?" Kei nearly laughed himself right off the couch, kicking one foot against the floor in hilarity.

Finally, under Sho's glare, Kei managed to get ahold of himself. "Come on, let's get you to bed. Give me your arm, we'll walk together." Kei finally got Sho into his room, and pulled off Sho's shoes. Tossing a sheet over the sore Sho, Kei headed to the kitchen, still snickering. He murmured to himself, "Just wait until tomorrow..."