heleanor | ♠ ＧＯＬＤ ♥ ＧＵＮＳ ♦ ＧＩＲＬＳ ♣

I completely understand. There's something nice about a home cooked [well, Iwaizumi cooked, he doesn't have time to cook for himself. And neither does Iwaizumi but he claims it's easier than getting someone else to cook something that Oikawa will eat] meal made exactly to your tastes. But I do like this place, simple and nice for Italian food.

And I have good company.

[Yamaguchi almost wants to launch in with a story about his teammates' cooking habits, lip quirking upward as he remembers that no one in the gang ever bothers to eat or cook properly except for Kiyoko, judging by appearances...but. He bites his tongue, deciding against it. It feels duplicitous to bring up Karasuno when they operate in secrecy for their own protection, and furthermore, they likely don't even know that Yamaguchi's here tonight and talking about them to a stranger.

Luckily, there's something else in Sakeguchi's statement to grab his attention. At least when Yamaguchi coughs to buy some time and gives the words another moment of thought.]

Home-cooked? ...Ah. You must have someone that cooks for you, huh.

[And judging by age, and the fact that he's a transfer student, it's probably not family. Yamaguchi doesn't know how to feel about the thought of Sakeguchi already having a...what? Partner? Roommate? 'Made exactly to your tastes' doesn't leave much to the imagination, that it's something intimate...]

[Oikawa's taken-aback. Where did Karasuno find this boy? And do they have another? He wants someone who can put that together from nothing. Sure, part of it might be his natural assumptions tend towards that kind of thing but Oikawa could train Yamaguchi up and into reading cues that are actually important in no time if he was a part of Seijou.]

Only so I don't starve. I'm not very good at keeping myself fed. [He keeps his tone light. But it really is a problem when they get loaded down with work and eating slips down his priorities.] He claims it's because me starving would look suspicious and he'd be top of the suspect list.

[They found him in a butcher shop. With a doctor...it was sort of a two-for-the-price-of-one deal, recruiting Yamaguchi alongside his uncharitable (but far more talented) best friend. That Yamaguchi turned out to be pretty good at reading and getting along with various people along the gang's phone tree was only a lucky coincidence.]

You don't know how to cook? [That seems odd, though Yamaguchi may be giving 'Sakeguchi' more credit than he's earned simply because he acts like someone with a lot of class and knowledge about the world.] Or, is it just a matter of not having enough time in the day?

[Yamaguchi certainly knows how that goes.]

A bit of both. [He says with a half shrug. Honesty will make keeping his cover straight easier down the line.]

I can make rice and eggs but that's about it, my friend claims I need to eat vegetables or I'll die but I think he just buys too many and then needs to find someone to eat them. [If he keeps talking about Iwaizumi he's going to have to think of a cover name for him soon.] Apart from that work keeps me busy, it's terribly hard being the only competent one in the office. [Who can't cook toast, but that's irrelevant.]

Really? You can't? That's kinda surprising, Sa...Tadao!

[Yamaguchi actually stifles a small laugh into his hand—he's trying not to be impolite, but it's probably a welcome change anyway from how tense he's been all evening.]

Hope he doesn't make you eat like that till you get sick...

[Like Nishinoya does, if he gets the chance.]

[It's a very welcome change, his date is cuter when he smiles.] Well, I can't be entirely perfect, can I?

And no, he doesn't do that but I think it's mostly so he doesn't have to clean it up. [He does clean things like that up, grumbling the entire time while Oikawa hovers and tries to make someone else take over.]

[He blinks, Sakeguchi's joke (he's joking, right?) about being perfect taking a moment to sink in before Yamaguchi laughs again.]

He sounds like a good friend. Have you two known each other a long time? [Because that's the vibe he's getting from Sakeguchi's descriptions secondhand.]

Forever! I can't remember when I didn't have him by my side.

[School, sports, then getting in over his head, finding his feet again and rising through the ranks - Iwaizumi's always been there.]

I can understand that.

[Yamaguchi would follow Tsukishima to hell and worse.]

Ah, do you have someone like that as well?

[Someone else in Karasuno who... well, Oikawa knows Yamaguchi wasn't the only new recruit.]

Yeah! I've got Tsukki...!

[Yamaguchi's spreading grin freezes a bit immediately after that slips out—honestly, he's not sure how much he can say, without compromising his or Tsukishima's identities to Sakeguchi. Or their allegiance, which doesn't seem like appropriate first- (or any-) date material....

Then again, neither of their jobs under Karasuno is exactly a secret, as far as the public's concerned. And Sakeguchi already knows Yamaguchi by name. 'Tsukki,' meanwhile, is a nickname; and even if Sakeguchi did know Tsukishima's real name and profession...why would he assume anything shady? Tsukishima's a doctor, and he runs a clinic. Yamaguchi doesn't completely have to lie about his friend if he's careful not to give away any details.]

He's...um...my best friend, like you said! We hang out all the time. [Not that either of them has much free time to speak of, these days, but it's still not an uncommon sight to find Yamaguchi hovering over Tsukishima's shoulder like a friendly remora.]

Tsukki? [That's fairly adorable. A part time mobster calling his best friend by a nickname like that. Iwaizumi will be glad to hear he's not the only one where that's the case - if Oikawa ever gets around to admitting that he's created a false persona to date the enemy so he can mention it.

Though Yamaguchi's still nineteen, which might give him a pass for cute names.]

Oh, and what do you do together?

[Yamaguchi tilts his head a bit, looking a little bemused by the question.]

Er, everything, I suppose...

[Yamaguchi, you make this much too easy.]

Oh, so it's that kind of a relationship?

Edited 2015-02-10 01:28 (UTC)

Eh!? [! !!]

N-No! Hey!!

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Tsukki and I—w-we're both friends!! Not like...um...anything like that, Tadao...!

[Oikawa breathes a sigh of relief to cover that he's trying not to laugh. Yamaguchi's too flustered not to be offended if he laughed at him right now.]

I'm glad! I would hate to have to compete with a friend you're so close with.

...? ??

Compete!?

[wait so is he actually, really, unequivocally confirming that his interest is the type of that Yamaguchi thinks it is...?

AND CRAP, WHAT DOES YAMAGUCHI DO IF THAT'S THE CASE? WHAT DOES HE DO??]

[STEP ONE: CALM DOWN BEFORE OIKAWA CAN'T KEEP A STRAIGHT FACE ANY MORE.

For the first time, it occurs to Oikawa that Yamaguchi might be straight, but he's in too deep now.]

Childhood romance is the kind that lasts after all.

R...Romance?!

[Yamaguchi's pretty sure he's not straight, but he's also never actually dated anyone in his life so he might not be qualified to answer. If nothing else, though, that answer is distressing for another reason.]

So...then...y-you and your friend...?? [But then, why would Sakeguchi ask Yamaguchi here? It's nothing to be upset over (Yamaguchi reasons to himself, trying to avoid an unexpected stab of disappointment in his chest), as it's not like Yamaguchi has the time or capacity or even the freedom to go around having dates with people that don't know him or his business. But...he was almost hoping...]

[Oikawa frowns, how did Yamaguchi put what he said together and come up with that?

It's not like there's nothing between him and Iwaizumi, they've known each other so long now, and stuck with each other through it all, that friendship doesn't really cover their relationship. Iwaizumi knows everything about him and is the single person who gets to claim that. And Oikawa knows he enjoys that fact even when he protests that it's a pain playing babysitter to a mob boss. Oikawa will say he loves him without a second thought. And if they share a bed in more than the literal sense from time to time, well that just goes to prove it. But it's not like they're in a relationship.]

Not really. We're just friends, mostly. [If he tried to explain more he'd start straying dangerously close to mentioning the time Iwaizumi took a bullet for him and no ordinary law student encounters gunfire.]

[Yamaguchi looks a little confused by Sakeguchi's noncommittal-seeming answer. 'Not really?' That's an odd response to a question about romance.

But Yamaguchi supposes that must mean no. They aren't involved. Unconsciously, a part of him feels relieved.]

Ah, that's understandable...you sounded just now like you had experience with that sort of...relationship. But I guess I was hearing you wrong.

He would shudder to ever hear the word relationship to describe us, you don't have anything to worry about. [He smiles, like an honest person interested in his date.] I would much rather go out with you, Tadashi.

[Between the lighting in the restaurant, skin tone, and his freckles, the flush creeping up over Yamaguchi's face at those words may go unnoticed.

But, it's definitely there.]

…Really?? [This shouldn't be so difficult to accept, but it still feels like the wind's been knocked out of him.] More than once, you mean?

[He can't possibly commit to that. Yamaguchi knows he can't. Yet, it's nice nonetheless…just to have a night away from work, for once, and spend it with someone kind and funny that actually seems to like him for reasons outside of utility.]

[He wants to pat Yamaguchi on the head, maybe give him a treat. There's just something so earnest about the way he asks that. Not to mention - he can't be sure but it seems like Yamaguchi's blushing.]

If you don't think I'm terribly presumptuous to say so when we haven't eaten yet, yes. I like you a lot already, Tadashi.

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