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Warm, gentle pressure wraps around Okuyasu’s shoulders, and he jerks in his seat, sitting up ramrod straight. This is better posture than he can usually be bothered with in class; he should cut it out before someone notices his wide-eyes or stiff spine, but at the same time –
He’s having trouble shaking off the feeling of arms wrapped secure around him. Embracing him. Especially seeing as there are no visible arms. There isn’t even anyone near him right now, at least no one close enough to hug him. The closest person would be Josuke, who’s sitting at the desk in front of Okuyasu, facing forward. Clearly not the culprit.
But it’s gotta be someone, right? Someone invisible, and – Okuyasu takes a second to pat down his own shoulders – intangible.
These criteria rule out pretty much everyone who’s not a ghost. Which is one hell of a terrifying thought, and has Okuyasu glancing over his shoulder, not sure if he’d rather find nothing or something behind himself because each would be its own brand of terror that would make him flee the classroom –
…Oh.
The explanation is behind Okuyasu after all. It’s not as scary as he’d feared, but it is confusing as all hell. Perplexing, definitely, though at the same time Okuyasu feels dumb for not recognizing the touch.
The Hand is out, without being consciously summoned.
What’s even weirder is the fact that Crazy Diamond has Okuyasu’s stand squeezed into a tight hug around the shoulders. Blue and pink and silver arms cradle The Hand close, a serious expression on Crazy Diamond’s face. The Hand looks the same as ever, with its usual wide frown.
Um.
Does…this mean that Josuke is the culprit after all…?
Spinning to scrutinize the back of Josuke’s head doesn’t reveal many clues other than reddened ears, so Okuyasu scoots forward in his seat. Reaching out with one finger, he pokes hard at Josuke’s back.
Josuke waves him away without so much as a glance. What’s Okuyasu to do except poke him again, a little harder this time? …And then again when that one is also batted aside, and then one last time with a quiet hiss of, “Josuke.”
“What?” Josuke grumbles, finally turning around to reveal cheeks that are starting to match his ears in color.
Instead of explaining (because he feels like he’s already causing enough of a racket during what’s supposed to be quiet classwork time) Okuyasu sticks out a thumb and jerks it backward a couple times, pointing behind himself.
For half a second, Josuke looks all confused. He gets that cute little wrinkle between his brows, and his lips go pouty – but then his eyes widen, and his mouth slackens, and he spins back around in his seat so fast that Okuyasu is surprised he doesn’t slip right off of it.
Weird.
“Hey,” Okuyasu whispers, scooching closer and leaning further over his desk, “hey, Josuke?”
No response. Well, maybe a tiny shake of the head, unless that’s just a nervous twitch or something. It doesn’t tell Okuyasu anything.
“Josuke.” Silence and stillness are all that Okuyasu gets. Rather than poke him again, Okuyasu pats at his shoulder with the tips of his fingers a few times. “What d’you think they’re doing?” Not that Okuyasu can say he really minds whatever it is, seeing as that hug’s pretty comfy and warm, even secondhand as it is.
“I dunno man,” Josuke mutters, “just stand stuff. Ignore them.”
Easy for him to say – he’s not the one being cuddled! “But Josuke –”
“Shh!”
If Josuke is tense – and he sure looks it, going by the tight set of his back – then Crazy Diamond isn’t feeling it, still hugging away on The Hand. And, yeah, class is probably not the place to talk about it, even if their stands seem to think it’s the place to do it, but Okuyasu is curious.
A muffled ‘Dora,’ comes from behind him, and then something soft touches his cheek and he jumps out of his skin and his seat alike, whirling around to look and winding up halfway on the floor.
It can’t be. There’s no way that what that felt like is what happened –
Except that it is. Crazy Diamond’s lips are still pressed to The Hand’s cheek, and that steadfast frown is twitching at the corners like it wants to flip upside down but can’t quite manage it.
As Okuyasu watches with wide eyes, Crazy Diamond backs off only to move in again for another cheek kiss – one that he feels on his own face – and he jolts in place again. Looks away from his stand to blink up at Josuke, who’s preoccupied with sitting resolutely forward, a hand pressed firm over his mouth.
-
“So. Josuke…”
Blowing on his cappuccino, Josuke takes a delicate sip and places it back on the saucer. “Yeah?”
“…About class today.”
It’s a good thing that Josuke put his coffee down, because he tenses up something fierce at that, looks like he barely keeps himself from bolting away. His cheeks start to go pink again, too. “What’s – what about class today?” he stammers, suddenly very interested in the café’s new tablecloth.
Okuyasu gets it. He’s having a hard time looking Josuke in the eye, too, and repeatedly poking his spoon into his fruit parfait is a fascinating distraction. “Y’know the, uh…hug…thing.”
“Oh that!” Josuke’s awkward laugh is at its most awkward, spilling all uneven between words. “Um.” An awkward cough to go with that awkward laugh. “What about it?”
“Well, I was kinda just wonderin’…uh…why?”
Snatching up his cappuccino, Josuke takes a too-big gulp of it, the kind that’s gotta burn his mouth. “That – that was all –” He cuts himself off, eyes widening and coffee cup slipping from between his fingers. It clinks, porcelain cracking, and tips to spill all over the table and into Josuke’s lap.
“Woah!” Okuyasu is on his feet, grabbing a handful of napkins – and that’s when he feels it.
Josuke’s muttered, “Shit, shit, shit!” as he pats himself down fades away into the background, because there are invisible arms squeezing Okuyasu around his middle.
His face is all hot, and he feels oddly weightless – when coupled with the hug itself, it makes his heart beat all funny in his chest. The napkins that are clutched in his hand flutter uselessly back to the table in favor of him pressing all of his fingers to where those arms would be holding him if they belonged to a human instead of a stand.
Josuke picks up the abandoned napkins to mop up his mess. Eyes downcast and cheeks red, he’s biting his lip.
“Are – are you –”
Shaking his head, Josuke picks up a hand and jabs a finger toward a spot over Okuyasu’s shoulder, still elbow-deep in cleaning up his spilled cappuccino.
Okuyasu is almost afraid to look, but he’s got to – so he does.
Crazy Diamond is at it again. It’s hugging The Hand around its middle, even lifting the other stand up off the ground some. Okuyasu can feel the mirrored warmth of another body pressed along his front, which lines up well with how closely Crazy Diamond is holding The Hand.
It’s…it’s kind of a cute picture, if you ignore how bizarre it is. And disregard the fact that The Hand still has that ever-present frown on its face, with Crazy Diamond’s expression being just as serious.
‘Dora,’ Crazy Diamond says, hiking The Hand higher in its arms.
Okuyasu’s stomach swoops like he’s on a rollercoaster, and he turns back around to face Josuke. “…Do you think we should…” Unable to articulate the words, he mimes pulling something apart.
As always, Josuke understands him. “I – I dunno.” He’s given up on his mess, it seems, and is now staring in the direction of their entangled stands, still chewing on his lip with napkins clutched in his hands. “They seem to –”
A cheerful ‘Do-ra~!’ comes from behind, and Okuyasu feels dizzy all of a sudden. Spinning on unsteady feet, he’s just in time to watch as Crazy spins The Hand around with way more speed than is necessary again.
And then Crazy D does it a third time! Okuyasu leans back on the table for support. “What the hell…?”
‘Dora-ra,’ is all Crazy Diamond has to say for itself, still engrossed in The Hand, maintaining eye-contact with it. Crazy Diamond unwinds one of its arms, bringing that hand up to cradle one side of The Hand’s face.
Okuyasu’s gotta admit, it makes the dizziness better, and that palm is warm…
Josuke backs away from the table, knocking over his chair in his haste, and takes off down the road at a dead sprint.
“Hey! Josuke!”
When he’s out of range, Crazy Diamond dissipates, and Okuyasu feels a lot heavier on his feet, almost falling over. He watches Josuke disappear from view, his heart beating like crazy in his chest even though he’s not the one running.
What was that all about…? Part of him wants to chase after Josuke and ask, but in the end, he chickens out. Just sits down, picks at the remains of his parfait, and ponders until his brain hurts.
He doesn’t come up with any kind of explanation.
-
It takes Okuyasu about ten solid minutes of standing on Josuke’s front stoop before he plucks up the courage to ring the doorbell.
See, they had plans to hang out tonight. Get an early start on the weekend, and all that. Okuyasu’s got advance permission from Josuke’s mom to sleep over, and he’s got his dad all set up for the night. Homework is stuffed into his bag along with snacks to keep up the pretense of studying.
…But after today’s stand shenanigans, who knows if Josuke even still wants to hang out?
What happened isn’t that weird, Okuyasu doesn’t think.
The hugs (and the…cheek kisses…) feel nice, even if they’re kinda out of the blue. At least Crazy Diamond isn’t spontaneously punching The Hand in the face! And just because it’s happened twice, doesn’t mean it’s going to keep happening!
…Problem is, Josuke seems to get awful flustered by the all the affectionate touches. Which is funny, since it’s Crazy Diamond that keeps spearheading these things. If Okuyasu didn’t know any better, he’d think it was actually Josuke controlling his stand – but with the way he fled the scene earlier, Okuyasu kinda doubts it.
He could ask, maybe. But that’d probably make Josuke even more skittish, so it’s better to just pretend that everything is normal.
And normal starts with ringing Josuke’s doorbell.
So! Here Okuyasu goes, ringing that doorbell!
Heh, for some reason, his hand is so sweaty that his finger slips against the button, not quite pressing too well, better try again –
The door opens in tandem with Okuyasu ringing, and he jolts, hand snapping back to his side as he comes face to face with Ms. Higashikata.
“Oh! Okuyasu,” she says, all pleasant, welcoming smiles. She’s adjusting the collar of her red coat with one hand, settling it over the strap of her purse, clearly on her way out. “Come on in.”
She steps aside. Nerves hit Okuyasu like a train, and although by rights he hasn’t done anything embarrassing, his legs are stiff and uncooperative as he slips past Ms. Higashikata and into the entryway. He hopes he stammers out what passes for a polite greeting, but his words don’t seem to be working too well either.
“I’m going out to eat with some coworkers,” she explains, “but Josuke’s upstairs, and dinner’s on the stove. You two have fun while I’m gone.” Slipping out the door, she pokes her head back in to add, “But not too much fun,” before closing it behind herself. Her heeled shoes click down the front walkway.
…Okuyasu is still standing frozen in the hall. Stays there for what feels like a decade, but is in reality probably only about two minutes. Still a weirdly long time to spend lingering in your best friend’s entryway.
Toeing off his shoes, Okuyasu manages a few steps further inside, until he’s at the foot of the stairs, peering up them. No sign of Josuke. Of course there isn’t – why would he be standing around in his own stairwell?
Staring up the empty staircase isn’t getting Okuyasu anywhere, either. It takes him a few more wasted minutes to come to terms with this fact.
And a few more minutes on top of that to gather the courage to holler, “Josuke!”
There’s the thundering sound of hasty footsteps, and Josuke appears two seconds later at the top of the stairs, still dressed in his uniform. He’s got a weak, twitching smile on his face, but he comes down, anyway. Albeit slowly, at odds with the way he’d hurried out of his room. “Hey, Oku,” he says, sounding kinda stilted. “Wasn’t sure you’d still want to come over after…”
“The – um – the stand thing?” Okuyasu finishes for him, scratching at his cheek. It’s getting hard to look Josuke in the eye again.
Finally at the bottom of the stairs, Josuke rubs at the back of his neck, letting out another awkward not-quite-laugh-half-cough. “Yeah, the…Crazy Diamond…malfunction…”
Malfunction? “So it’s not you doin’ that?!”
Josuke balks. “Wh – no it’s not me!”
“Oh. Oh…thank goodness.” Though, Okuyasu’s insides don’t exactly feel relieved. They’re tangling themselves up more, if anything. Who knows why that is, but he’s done trying to puzzle things out today.
“So it’s…” Shifting from one foot to the other, Josuke’s mouth falls into a serious sort of frown that’s almost a pout. “It’s weird, right?”
“A little – but it’s not bad!” Okuyasu scrambles to reassure, because that pout tightened up a notch. “I don’t mind, so, we don’t gotta talk about it if you don’t want to.”
-
Their evening goes smoother after that. Dinner is an uneventful affair spent on the couch, watching some cheesy horror movie that Okuyasu smuggled in. So what if they get spooked and almost turn it off seven times before it’s over? At least by the end Josuke’s loosened up enough that when they get to the portion of the night that involves Okuyasu is kicking his ass at F-Zero X, things are back to normal.
And that’s how they stay. Normal.
Nothing at all out of the usual. Nothing out of place. Nothing at all – really!
There’s nothing to worry about, either. Because if Crazy Diamond didn’t hug on The Hand during every movie scene wherein Josuke was so scared he tried to crawl into Okuyasu’s lap, then there’s no reason for anything like that to happen now that Josuke’s progressed to trying to shove Okuyasu over to mess up his race.
Okuyasu’s got no choice but to elbow him back, that sore loser, and. That’s about when he starts to feel all warm and held again. Invisible arms are winding slow around his back to cradle him close to a solid torso. His head feels suspiciously like it’s resting on a strong shoulder, so much that he starts to tip into the secondhand contact without realizing.
He lets his car ricochet to a stop on the track, his hands stilled on the controller. His face feels awful hot and his eyes really wanna take a peek behind him more than they wanna focus on the screen – but Josuke –
Josuke…is not faring any better, Okuyasu sees when he finally convinces his gaze to at least slip to the side.
He’s faring worse, actually. See, Okuyasu still has his controller in his hands, meanwhile Josuke fumbles with his, drops it, and makes no move to pick it back up. His full lips are set in another pouty-almost-frown, and his shoulders hunch in more than is normal for chill posture.
The arms around Okuyasu squeeze in tighter, and Josuke flinches.
“Um,” Okuyasu says, absolutely brimming with intelligent words. “Uh, are they…”
Josuke nods, just once and kinda stiff. “Yep.” He seems pretty uncomfortable about it, too, sitting there with rigid posture and pink cheeks.
“D’you want me to like…call back The Hand?”
At this offer, though, Josuke shakes his head. “Let’s –” the hug tightens and his fingers twitch, before he curls his hands into fists and settles them on his thighs, taking a deep breath, “–let’s wait it out and, uh. See what happens maybe?”
Oh! Okuyasu…has no idea what to say to that. Well, he does, because he doesn’t mind waiting it out and so therefore should agree, but saying so is another matter. For Josuke to suggest this after running away last time is something like a shock, and his brain isn’t too fast at catching up.
“If – if that’s not too weird!” Josuke scrambles, probably thanks to Okuyasu staring at him in silence and with wide eyes for so long.
“No,” Okuyasu finally manages to spit out words, “nah, it’s not weird at all, man!”
By now he isn’t sure whose blush is worse, because they’re both sitting here on the couch, beet red. With Crazy Diamond presumably hugging The Hand behind them. F-Zero X abandoned, both of their cars exploded and long retired from Devil’s Forest. Unusual twist on usual weekend business. But they’re dealing with it pretty well. Could be handling it worse.
Throat bobbing on an audible gulp, Josuke sinks back against the couch, trying for relaxed, maybe, but he’s still all rigid. “Okay,” he breathes out, “okay, cool.”
Seeing as Josuke’s controller has been abandoned to the floor, Okuyasu goes ahead and sets his down on the coffee table. Then he does his best to sit calmly, too. Waiting it out.
…But he’s curious, so the whole sitting there in awkward silence while twiddling his thumbs doesn’t exactly cut it. Plus, this hug is lasting an awful long time. Comfortable as it is, it’s probably weird that Okuyasu is starting to want to sink into that comfort and rest a while, right? Especially because Josuke is centimeters away, and he seems anything but comfy and relaxed…
Okuyasu chances a glance over his shoulder at the same time as The Hand hugs back. To his left, Josuke makes a weird, squeaky noise, and sits up that much straighter – but Okuyasu can’t look away.
This embrace sure is the most tender yet, with Crazy D’s arms low around The Hand’s waist, while The Hand is holding Crazy Diamond around the shoulders. Almost like they could be slow dancing, or something. In a. Very intimate way.
Um.
It’s – it’s cute, too. What with The Hand’s head tipped to rest against Crazy D’s shoulder like that…the permanent frown on The Hand’s face easing a tiny bit for the first time ever.
“This feels…kinda nice.”
Okuyasu blinks at Josuke, eyes wide, not quite believing what he just heard.
“Is it…” Shifting around some, Josuke bites his lip for a quick second before letting it go to continue. “Is it always this warm?”
Still stunned, Okuyasu manages a nod. “Yeah, it’s always real –” he cuts himself off with a yelp, and Josuke actually physically jolts in place – because The Hand just jumped so that it could hike its legs around Crazy Diamond’s waist for a full-bodied hug –
-
Some mad scrambling to disperse stands and confused stammering about what the hell all that was about later, and they’ve managed to stumble upstairs to bed.
…They held hands as they went, for some reason. Okuyasu still isn’t sure why that happened. Usually when Josuke trips running up the stairs, Okuyasu just laughs at him and uses it to his advantage to win their race up them. This time, though, he’d grabbed Josuke’s hand on some sort of reflex. Helped him up and hadn’t let go until they reached the top.
Then they danced around each other while brushing their teeth and putting pajamas on and shit.
And.
Now they’re lying in Josuke’s bed.
Side by side with the lights off, both of them flat on their backs under the covers, staring at the ceiling. That’s what Okuyasu’s doing, anyway – he hasn’t checked on Josuke in a while.
Just lying here, waiting for a conversation to start itself, or for sleep to claim him. Anything that’ll offer an out to this weird bout of awkward silence. Those have been happening a lot today. Things have never been so awkward with Josuke – not even when they were enemies! Okuyasu never has trouble talking to him, but…especially tonight…he can’t bring himself to…say words.
Should he say words?
Argh, Okuyasu’s brain is starting to hurt. All this thinking is no good for him.
…
…
…It probably doesn’t help that Crazy Diamond and The Hand are at it again. He and Josuke haven’t acknowledged it, yet, but Josuke has to feel it, too. It’d be impossible not to, and, yeah, when Okuyasu glances over it looks like Josuke’s a little sweaty right now, even though the room’s a perfect sleeping temperature.
Makes sense. This hug is even more intimate than the last! You might not even be able to call this a hug.
Crazy Diamond is sitting against the wall, with The Hand cradled sideways in its lap. They’re sorta hugging, arms around each other, but mostly it’s The Hand cuddled up and Crazy Diamond stroking its back and stuff. They’ve been…close…all night, since that fateful full-bodied hug.
By some unspoken agreement, Josuke and Okuyasu are letting them have at it.
It’s nice, the feeling of being held close and warm in Crazy Diamond’s lap. Diligent fingers are rubbing the back of his – The Hand’s neck, which has been kinda sore lately. No matter how mortifying it is to feel the touch of lips to his forehead for the third or fourth time tonight – can you cool your jets, Crazy D – Okuyasu can’t deny that this is –
Wait. Hang on a second.
The intimate posture, the hugging, the kisses, the soft, fond feelings that keep bombarding Okuyasu out of nowhere courtesy of The Hand…
This all adds up to something, right? Oh, Okuyasu is so smart. He’s figured it out! “Hey, Josuke.”
“Hm?”
“I think our stands have the hots for each other!”
“…What?”
Sitting up onto his elbows a bit, Okuyasu turns an enthusiastic grin on Josuke. “Think about it, bro. All the cuddlin’, and how Crazy D can’t keep its hands to itself, but The Hand doesn’t mind – they got huge crushes on each other!”
Josuke is quiet, lying there staring in awe at Okuyasu. Stunned by how brilliant his epiphany is, most likely, just blinking at him in the dark.
“Isn’t it great? It’s real cute, right?”
Snapping out of his shocked silence, Josuke mumbles, “Y-yeah, super adorable…”
For a while, things go quiet again, and Okuyasu uses this time to think things over. It’s easing his headache this time, instead of worsening it (though maybe that’s just thanks to Crazy Diamond’s lips on The Hand’s forehead again).
His and Josuke’s stands crushing on each other is a sweet thought. Not to mention that it explains the weird feelings that Okuyasu’s been getting in his stomach around Josuke lately, like being nervous but better somehow…
“Um, Okuyasu?”
“Yeah?”
“D’you think we should, I dunno…show ‘em our support by like…” Josuke’s gaze stays locked on the ceiling as he chews on his bottom lip. “By cuddling with each other?” he says, and it comes out in such a rush that it takes Okuyasu a minute to decipher.
When he does, his face heats right on up and that nervous-but-better feeling erupts in his stomach. It didn’t matter before but suddenly all he can focus on is the scent of Josuke’s body wash and shampoo and sheets and –
This is. This is bizarre. All day he’s been getting used to how nice it feels when their stands hug, but at the thought of Josuke holding him like that, Okuyasu’s brain short circuits.
…Oh man. Maybe – just maybe – The Hand isn’t the only one with a crush around here.
“Oh – kay,” Okuyasu manages. “That’s – um – that sounds, uh, nice.”
“Great,” Josuke breathes out on a sigh. “So…how should we…”
“I dunno.” The skin on Okuyasu’s cheeks is going to start melting away any second, and whatever’s fluttering around his stomach is bound to explode out of it any second. Why didn’t he realize? How’d The Hand know before him? And what’s Okuyasu know about cuddling, anyway?
“Maybe…” Rather than explain, Josuke opens his arms, his torso kinda angled toward Okuyasu, and he beckons some with his hands.
Okuyasu swallows. Takes two deep breaths. Nods like a bobble head. “Yeah. Yeah, that looks right.” And then he closes the distance between them, shimmying forward into those waiting arms. Lucky that he doesn’t have to cross a huge distance to get to them, because he’s lowkey freaking out and might not have made it.
As it is, those arms wrap around him, snug at his ribcage, and the scent of Josuke is overwhelming, now, what with Okuyasu’s cheek pressed to his shoulder and all. This is even warmer than those secondhand hugs of Crazy Diamond’s.
“This is real nice,” Okuyasu mumbles, the words muffled by Josuke’s shirt. Hugging back would be ideal, but the most he can convince his arms to do is make it halfway, his fingers twisting in yellow t-shirt fabric.
“Yeah…”
A thought hits Okuyasu out of nowhere, and it comes tumbling out of his head before he can stop and think whether it’s a good idea. “…Are we – should-we-date?”
What follows is a very, very long beat of silence. During which Josuke’s arms tighten around him minutely, and his body goes all stiff. “What.” He almost bites his lip again. “What was that, bro?”
“I said.” Okuyasu squirms in Josuke’s hold, only so that he can get an arm around him proper, trying to do a better job at returning his hold. Looking into Josuke’s pretty eyes takes more guts than Okuyasu feels like he has at the moment, but at least it shows Okuyasu that he’s just as nervous. “Do you think we should date? Just to. Just so our stands can –”
“Yes.”
Okuyasu blinks. “Huh? R-really?”
Bright red cheeks accompany a dazzling little smile. “Yeah. Let’s, um – start tomorrow? The whole. Boyfriend thing.”
Boyfriend. The word sends fireworks into Okuyasu’s chest, which he didn’t think was physically possible. “I’d love that!” And he’s only just realizing how much he’d love that – how much he loves Josuke –
“Good – great! Me, too!”
There’s no way that Okuyasu can stop smiling now, he’s too giddy, even giggling a little to himself, Josuke returning his grin.
And then. Those soft, smiling lips are pressed to Okuyasu’s forehead, most definitely belonging to the Josuke in his arms and not the Crazy Diamond on the floor.
“Goodnight, Oku,” Josuke murmurs, his lips brushing skin, and wow.
“N-night, Josuke!”
‘Dora.’
Another kiss to Okuyasu’s forehead, more phantom-like this time – and Okuyasu doesn’t have to look to know that The Hand is smiling. He can feel it stretched across his own face, after all. …Along with the…gentle touch of…lips to his own…secondhand again. Oh man, he’s going to die. Presses his bright red face into Josuke’s chest to hide because what are Crazy Diamond and The Hand doing?
Above him, Josuke is sputtering, his arms tightening around Okuyasu as he shouts, “You – you two get some sleep, too!”