learashi | The Standoff

Pairing: Matsumiya

Genre: Romance

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I don’t own Arashi – I only own this story.

Summary: Nino knew that it was stupid to panic like this, but something had seemed off about Jun when he’d said goodbye that morning. He’d just put it down to residual anger about their argument the previous night but now he was seriously worried that Jun had left him.

Nino snarled as he frantically mashed the buttons of his game controller. He’d been stuck on this level for what felt like forever. He was so close – just a little more.

He blinked in disbelief as the television screen suddenly went blank just as he was about to triumph. Nino knew it wasn’t a power outage because all the lights were still on. He looked around dazedly only to see Jun standing with his arms folded across his chest, the unplugged end of the power cable dangling from his right hand, his left foot tapping impatiently.

Nino knew the look his boyfriend had on his face only too well. He’d recognised at some point that Jun had been speaking to him, but he’d only heard the sound as a buzzing noise in the back edge of his consciousness.

This had happened many times before and usually ended up with Nino unwittingly agreeing to go shopping with Jun or something similarly as onerous simply because he hadn’t been paying attention.

“Why did you do that?” Nino asked, still in a state of shock.

“Have you even heard a single thing I’ve said?” Jun shot back with a glare.

If he was being completely honest, Nino had barely even registered that fact that Jun had arrived home let alone heard anything he’d been saying.

“You were saying how sexy I am and that you need to see me naked immediately?” replied Nino, hoping that humour would extricate him out of the hole that he’d apparently dug himself into without even being aware of it.

The look that Jun gave him in return could have cut glass and Nino found himself shrinking slightly into a protective hunch, but Jun said nothing further as he tossed the cable on the floor and stomped into the bedroom, locking the door behind him.

“Jun, you know that sleeping in that soft bed in the spare room makes my back hurt,” Nino complained at the locked door hoping to gain the sympathy vote and not be evicted from his own bedroom.

A few seconds later it was reefed open and Nino’s special support pillows and his favourite blanket flew out onto the floor before the door was slammed shut once again.

With a sigh Nino tossed the bedding onto the hated spare bed before he plugged the television back in and resumed his game, knowing that from many past experiences that Jun would soon cool down and things would return to normal.

++++

The next morning Nino was unexpectedly woken by a soft kiss pressed to his forehead as Jun helped him up out of the too soft bed and steered him to the bathroom where he proceeded to do astonishing things to his body in the shower that left him with legs as wobbly as a newborn lamb, before cooking him a perfect breakfast.

Jun didn’t mention the previous night’s argument even once causing Nino to start questioning his own sanity. His back was telling him that he’d definitely not slept in his own bed, but his boyfriend was behaving as if nothing was different at all.

When Nino’s manager arrived to pick him up Jun waved him off with a kiss and a tight hug; checking that he had everything with him that he needed.

“Bye, see you tonight,” Nino said as he headed to the door.

Jun caught up to him before he could reach the doorknob and squeezed him extra hard while he whispered huskily “You know that I love you.”

“Um, me too?” Nino replied, confused by the odd tone of Jun’s voice.

++++

Nino was caught up in work delays and only arrived home well after midnight. He expected that Jun would be angry with him for not calling to tell him that he was going to be late, but the apartment was in darkness.

After dropping his bag in the entryway Nino snuck to the bedroom, hoping to slide into bed without waking Jun up, but there was no Jun shaped lump under the blankets. This was unusual; Jun always came straight home when he had finished work unless he told Nino otherwise.

“Jun?” Nino called as he walked into the bathroom, but his boyfriend was nowhere in sight.

“You’re not still angry with me are you? You’d better not be sulking in the spare room, because I’m prepared to torment you until you come back to our room.”

Nino’s heart began to pound as he walked frantically around the apartment looking for any sign of his missing boyfriend. He tried ringing Jun’s mobile but it was switched off. This was worrying as Jun always told him if he was going to be late or at least sent him a text.

Even though it was so late at night he tried Jun’s manager as well but his phone was also uncontactable. For a moment he even considered ringing one of the others, but he could almost hear Sho’s voice echoing in his head saying that if Nino didn’t know how to handle Jun then Sho would be more than pleased to take him off his hands. Aiba was out of the question, because once he caught even the slightest whiff of drama or scandal he would be like a dog with a bone and never stop bugging Nino for details. He didn’t even bother thinking about Ohno either, because it would take more than a phone ringing to wake him up; sometimes he slept so deeply that one of them would go over and poke him just to check that he was still breathing.

Nino knew that it was stupid to panic like this, but something had seemed off about Jun when he’d said goodbye that morning. He’d just put it down to residual anger about their argument the previous night but now he was seriously worried that Jun had left him.

He rushed to the wardrobe to see if any of Jun’s clothes were missing, but as he stood eyeing the rows of neatly arranged and colour co-ordinated items there was no way of telling if anything was gone. Only Jun himself who had an encyclopaedic mind when it came to his clothing and accessories would be able to tell if anything was missing, as Nino had found out to his great regret when Jun noticed instantly when he had once borrowed one of his ties for a function. How he could tell it was his when he owned another five which were almost identical shades of blue was a mystery to Nino.

Nino was so deep inside his own thoughts coming up with worst case scenarios that at first he didn’t hear the front door opening. Only when Jun dropped his bag on the floor in preparation of removing his shoes did Nino react.

“JUN!”

Jun almost fell as Nino flung himself around his body like a python, squeezing his neck tight enough to make black dots dance in front of his eyes.

“N-n-i-no,” Jun wheezed as he felt his knees buckle.

Nino released his death grip only after reassuring himself that his boyfriend was actually there and was in one piece.

Feeling more than a little ashamed of his hysterical reaction, Nino decided to go on the attack instead.

“Where have you been?”

“Working, like I told you last night. Remember when I came home I said that I would be out of mobile range all day and home late?”

Nino felt the blood flowing to his face as he remembered that he hadn’t heard a word Jun had said to him the night before.

"Um, sure," Nino said vaguely as he helped Jun to remove his shoes, hoping that by the time he was standing the tell-tale colour would have faded slightly.

"Liar!" spat Jun. "What else did I say last night then?"

Nino could only blink in response as he desperately tried to come up with an answer.

"Nino, do you realize how hard it is to live with you sometimes? It makes me feel as if I'm living alone even when you are sitting in the same room with me. We have little enough time alone together to start with and then you go off into your own world and leave me behind..." Jun paused as a tear escaped from his eye and trickled slowly down his cheek.

Nino, feeling like the worst boyfriend in the world once again flung himself bodily onto Jun hugging him tightly and whispering words of love into his ear as he attempted to stop the flow of tears.

Taking Jun by the hand Nino led Jun through the dark apartment to their bedroom where he spent the next hour showering him with desperate kisses and gentle lovemaking, attempting to prove to him just how much he really did love and appreciate him even if he found it hard to say the words.

When Nino woke late the next morning Jun was already gone, but oddly enough he had left a note behind on his pillow.

Nino,

I know that you love me and I love you and that is why I've done what I have. It's for the best. I think that you need a time out, a chance to spend some time alone with your thoughts without distraction. There is no point in searching; you won't be able to find what you have lost.

Please don't hate me.

Love Jun

Nino thought that his heart was going to explode as he dashed into the living room. All of his worst fears were realized as he looked at the shelves beside his gaming television; they were empty. Jun had removed every last game from the apartment along with his gaming systems. He didn't even need to look to know that his DS was gone as well.

Things were about to get ugly. If Jun wanted to play it that way then Nino was more than happy to oblige.

++++

When Nino walked into the green room later that day Jun sat up straight on the sofa and bit his bottom lip as he betrayed his nervousness. No words passed between the couple, but as Nino pointedly sat near Sho on the far side of the room Jun's phone pinged with an incoming message.

"Nino? What's the meaning of this? What have you done with Figaro?"

"I think that you need a time out, a chance to spend some time alone with your thoughts without distraction. There is no point in searching; you won't be able to find what you have lost." Nino quoted Jun's words back to him with an evil smirk.

"Who's Figaro?" Aiba asked as he peered curiously over Jun's shoulder. He was deeply disappointed to see that there was only a picture of Jun's bonsai collection on the screen with an obvious gap in the middle.

"Figaro is Jun's newest bonsai. It's a Moreton Bay Fig tree from Australia. He likes to give his trees names and talks to them in a soppy voice when he waters them," Nino replied before adding with a devilish grin "He was hideously expensive."

Jun was looking in horror at the empty space where his tree used to be.

"Where did you put him?"

"I can't reveal that. Where did you put my games?"

"If you think I'm going to tell you that, you can forget it." Jun replied with a glare.

The other three were sitting there watching them argue with obvious fascination.

"Well I think that you have more to lose than I do. My games don't need any maintenance. For instance they don't need regular watering like your little friend does," Nino said, knowing that he was taking a big risk but there was no way that he could back down now.

Jun's face lost some of its colour momentarily, before his eyes began to glitter with anger.

There was no chance for the argument to go any further as a staff member came to collect them for the most uncomfortable recording session any of them could remember.

++++

During a break Jun strolled over to where Nino was sipping a bottle of water and dangled a key in front of his face.

"I do believe this is the key to your soul and the storage locker containing your games. It would be truly horrible if I forgot which train station the locker was in."

Nino growled in response as Aiba looked between them with a worried expression.

++++

During an even more uncomfortable dinner break where the five of them sat not speaking or even looking at each other a courier came in and delivered an envelope to Jun. When he saw what it contained his nerveless fingers dropped its contents on the floor. A single dark green leaf floated down, landing noiselessly on the floor.

"Figaro! You cut off one of his leaves?"

"Haven't you ever watched any movies about kidnappers? They always cut off a piece of the hostage and send it to the concerned family members just to prove how serious they are."

Ohno and Sho let out muffled sounds of laughter that they were both desperately trying to stifle. They had seen many arguments between these two idiots before and this one was turning out to be the most spectacular one yet. Only Aiba was looking worried as he saw Jun's eyes turn glassy with unshed tears before he turned and rushed from the room.

"Jun?" Nino called after his disappearing form, wondering why his boyfriend seemed to be taking this all so seriously. This was what they did. They used snark as a uniquely effective means of communication. Nino conveyed his feelings of love with smart words that stung but Jun was able to interpret easily. They always argued, tortured each other for a bit and then made up again; why was Jun reacting differently this time?

++++

Nino had been shocked when Jun refused to go home with him, inviting himself to stay at Aiba's place for the night instead. This would be the first night they had deliberately spent apart since they had moved in together. After angrily tossing his bag on the floor he stomped over to the refrigerator and after pushing Jun's vitamin water to one side he pulled out a six pack of beer. Since Jun wasn't there to tell him off he decided to drink the lot with a cup ramen he had stashed at the back of the cupboard for emergencies.

He plopped himself down in front of the television and flicked through the channels but nothing caught his attention. He didn't normally watch much television, busy as he was playing his games. Sometimes Jun would ask him to watch a movie with him, but he would usually just be at a vital stage and by the time he could safely pause the game, the movie would be mostly over and more often than not Jun would have fallen asleep on the sofa alone.

Nino felt a pang of guilt at the thought as he shuffled aimlessly around the empty apartment. Spotting his guitar case in the corner, he picked it up and idly ran his fingers over the strings, trying to remember the last time he'd written a song or even played it. The instrument and its case were both sparking clean and shining softly with polish. Jun must have been keeping the dust off, in readiness for Nino when he next felt like using it.

It was definitely all of the alcohol in his system that made his vision suddenly blurry, not the tears that were pricking at the back of his eyelids as he was overwhelmed with loneliness.

++++

The apartment was filled with soft strumming and scribbling noises an hour later as Nino tried to translate his feelings into music; but for some reason things just weren't working, as he crumpled up the sheet of paper and tossed it to join the previous dozen sheets on the floor. Usually Jun would be here, sitting quietly near him reading a book whilst offering silent support with his calming presence or even looking over his shoulder and humming the tune with him making Nino laugh and bat him away as his warm breath tickled his ear.

It was almost a relief when the doorbell rang and there was an angry Aiba standing there holding a key out in his right hand.

"Here! Jun says you can have your stupid games back. The address is on the tag. I hope they keep you warm at night since you seem to think more of them than of your own boyfriend," Aiba said harshly, his face almost incandescent with anger.

Nino had never seen his friend look this angry before, except maybe when he had learnt of the bullying that Nino had endured when he was at school. He had certainly never seen it directed towards him before and it made him feel very small indeed.

Seeing that Aiba was about to leave Nino dashed forwards and dragged the taller man back into the apartment, slamming the door behind him to prevent his escape.

"How is Jun?"

"How do you think? He's worried about you, which is why he made me give you the key even though I think he's crazy. You know that you are my best friend in the world and always will be but this time I'm on Jun's side." Aiba said angrily as he stalked over to the sofa and helped himself to a beer.

"Is he that angry with me?"

"He's not angry, he's just really sad, even though to look at him you can hardly tell the difference."

"Why?" Nino asked, finding it hard to speak around the lump in his throat.

"He really loves you, you know? He must do because I’m sure you are real pain in the ass to live with." Aiba said as he headed towards the kitchen in search of something to eat with his beer.

"Why is there no food in here?"

"Um, Jun was going to buy groceries tonight..."

"And you couldn't?"

"I don't really care about whether I eat or not if Jun's not here; he's the one who fusses if I don't eat properly," Nino replied sulkily, not liking the feeling that everything seemed slightly off without Jun's presence.

"See, this is exactly what I mean!"

"What?"

"You rely on him for everything, but you would never tell him that. I know that you like your own space after spending your days pretending to get along with other people and how hard that is for you, but don't you think that Jun deserves just a little bit of you as well?"

Nino opened his mouth to argue, but he couldn't find the words to defend himself. Jun had always, right from the very beginning of their relationship allowed Nino to have his space, waiting patiently for Nino to come to him when he wanted company. Even though Jun was outgoing and loved nothing more than spending time with friends or going out to try new restaurants, he spent a large proportion of his down time keeping Nino company in their apartment.

"I'm an idiot, aren't I?" Nino asked in a tiny voice.

"Yes, but a lovable one, at least to Jun and to me," Aiba said, giving him a hug.

++++

Jun had fallen asleep on Aiba's sofa after drinking more wine than he should have. His friend hadn't wanted to take the key to Nino, but Jun didn't want to make his boyfriend suffer unnecessarily and had practically forced Aiba out the door.

Even though he was still angry with Nino he just didn't want to argue any more. He had known what Nino was like long before they got together romantically; that he had trouble relating to people and that he hid his emotions away due to a fear of being hurt, and Jun had been happy so far with the way their relationship worked. He had no idea why he had snapped the other day when Nino hadn't listened to him; it had happened many times before and it had almost ended up as a running joke between them.

It was the fact that Nino hadn't even really noticed that he was there at all that had hurt so much. Did this mean that Nino would be just as happy living on his own?

Jun stirred in his sleep as a persistent banging noise came from the front door. Bleary-eyed, he stumbled over and opened it, almost losing an eye in the process as a small but perfectly formed fig tree was thrust into his face.

"Here!" Nino said. "And don't worry, he's in perfect shape. The leaf I sent you didn't come from Figaro. I was just messing with you."

"It didn't?" Jun mumbled, still trying to get his alcohol fuddled brain cells together.

"I would never hurt something that you care about, even if I don't quite understand how you can be so attached to it in the first place," Nino replied as he walked past a confused Jun and plopped himself down on Aiba's squishy cream coloured sofa.

Jun placed his bonsai on the coffee table and after checking the moisture levels of its soil, hovered nervously near Nino until the smaller man finally sighed and grabbed his hand, dragging him down to sit beside him on the sofa.

"Jun, as much as it pains me to say this, I think we need to talk."

In response Jun merely blinked at him with wide eyes, determined to make Nino be the first one to speak.

"I'm not good at expressing my real feelings. I can act them out in front of a camera but when it comes down to telling people that I care about how much they mean to me I find it nearly impossible. I guess I've always been afraid to expose myself to possible hurt so instead I close myself off behind a protective shell."

Jun still didn't speak, but instead took Nino's hand in his, rubbing his thumb lightly across the back in a calming and encouraging gesture.

Nino took a deep breath and continued "I know that I tend to get obsessed when I play. But is one of the only two things that I know can relax me completely. I didn't mean to ignore you. It's just that I'd had a really crappy day and I didn't want to take it out on you. You don't deserve to have put up with me."

Jun spoke for the first time "I don't put up with you. I love you. I love you even though it's like living with a hedgehog sometimes, all spines on the outside protecting a soft and cute little creature underneath."

"Did you just call me soft, cute and little?"

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Jun asked with the first genuine smile Nino had seen from him in days. "I'd have to be crazy to call you that."

"So, um, I'm sorry I kidnapped Figaro. But he provoked me."

"A tree provoked you?"

"He just looks so smug sitting there lapping up all that attention when you water him and prune him and talk to him. He was asking for it."

"Wait, you're jealous of a tree?"

"A pampered and smug tree!"

"You want me to water you?" Jun asked with a laugh

"No but I enjoy it when you pamper certain parts of me," Nino replied with a suggestive hip thrust.

"Maybe later. Right now I'm more interested in sorting out our issues. But I promise to pamper you more than Figaro from now on. I will even install an automatic watering system for the bonsai so I can spend more time with you."

"I missed you more than my games," Nino blurted out, his cheeks turning pink.

Jun's eyes narrowed as he glared at Nino suspiciously.

"Seriously, I learnt that I can live without my games but I can't live without you. I even started writing a song tonight for the first time in ages."

"Does that mean that I normally distract you from composing?"

"No! It means that you are my inspiration. I want to write a song to show the world how much I love you and I need you to be there beside me when I do it. I still want to play my games sometimes, but I promise to limit my time when we are at home together. Instead I will make more of an effort to let you know when I've had a bad day and I will try to listen to you as well and maybe sometimes we could even go out for dinner or something."

"I have one last question," Jun said "You said that there are two things that make you relaxed. One of them was gaming; what was the other?"

"Sex with my creative and adventurous boyfriend," Nino said with a leer.

Jun giggled and leant in and planted a soft kiss on Nino's lips. "So the standoff is over and we can go home?"

"Well actually I persuaded Aiba to stay the night at our place to babysit the rest of your plants, after he comes back from collecting my games from whatever far flung place you were holding them in that is," Nino said as he nibbled on the side of Jun's neck before softly sucking on his collarbone.

"He told us before that we aren't allowed to fuck in his bed," Jun said in warning he tried to resist Nino's persistent mouth and even more persistent hands.

"Would you rather we do it right here then?" Nino asked as he palmed Jun's crotch, squeezing the head of his dick lightly through his trousers.

Jun moaned into Nino's mouth as he felt Nino's small hand slide into his trousers and caress his half hard cock. "N-nin-o, stop that," he said as he pulled the wandering hand away making Nino whine with frustration and pout.

"Don't worry," Jun said as moved away and knelt on the floor in front of Nino, parting his legs wide enough to slot himself between them. "I've found the perfect way to make you relax and keep Aiba's place cum free at the same time. It's virtually impossible to get the stain out of this type of fabric you know," Jun said as he pulled down Nino's zip.

"Err, Jun, talking about fabric care isn't exactly what I need right now," Nino said as he gestured towards his slightly wilting erection as Jun freed it from the confines of his underwear.

"Don't worry, I'm good at dealing with delicate plants," Jun said before leaning in taking Nino into his mouth and doing the thing with his tongue that always made Nino's eyes roll into the back of his head.

A few minutes later he pulled away from a trembling Nino who whined as his heated and throbbing cock was exposed to the cool air.

"J-jun," he stuttered as he tried to pull Jun's moist and slightly swollen lips back to his cock.

Jun licked his lips and pulled Nino to his feet, his own erection pressing painfully against the front of his fashionably tight trousers.

"We promised to not fuck in Aiba's bed or make a mess on his sofa, but he didn't say anything about his bathtub," Jun said as he lifted Nino off his feet by grabbing his springy ass in both hands as the smaller man wrapped his legs tightly around his waist before carrying him towards the bathroom.

"And if your ass is very lucky I might even find something in there I can use as lube," Jun added in Nino's ear using a dark voice that sent pleasurable shudders through Nino's body all the way down to his cock.

++++

Unfortunately for Aiba and his furniture they weren't able to keep all their promises.

As Nino breathlessly attempted to ride Jun to orgasm in the bath, he almost drowned his lover in the process when a braced foot slipped at an inappropriate moment as Nino's cum spurted hotly across Jun's chest. Jun, distracted by the sensation unexpectedly slipped under the water as his leg suddenly gave out, and Nino was forced to drag him out by the hair as he spluttered and coughed up soap bubbles.

"This is totally going in the song," Nino said as he rinsed the soap out of Jun's stinging eyes.

In the interests of safety they adjourned to Aiba's bed where Nino, keen to return the favour after his stunning orgasm, and to make up for almost accidently killing his boyfriend just when they had made up from the fight, fucked Jun into the mattress until they were both exhausted and the bed was a hopelessly sticky mess of cum and sweat.

When Aiba arrived home at lunchtime the next day he was greeted by the sight of a neatly wrapped parcel sitting in the entryway. Excited by the thought that his grateful friends had bought him a thank you gift for his part in getting them back together he tore off the packaging only to be confused at the expensive set of Egyptian cotton sheets that it contained.

Why would they give him sheets?

Suddenly a light bulb went off over his head and he stormed into his bedroom where the stripped down mattress was staring back at him as if ashamed of what it had been doing the night before.

He immediately pulled out his laptop and ordered a new mattress to be delivered, with the invoice to be sent to Nino, and since he was so happy that his friends were obviously back together, he only ordered the second most expensive one in the store.

A/N: Hello everyone (all five of you who will probably be reading this that is) we’re yet another week closer to Jun’s birthday. Next week I will be returning to my OTP with a Sakumoto story. I feel like I’ve been neglecting them a bit lately and think that purple month needs more Sho/Jun.

Current Mood: mellow
Current Music: V6 - Timeless