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They leave the local Jazz Bar a tad tipsy and not quite sober here and there but nothing that the both of them couldn’t handle by now. Ren had certainly worked on his tolerance to alcohol since Goro usually enjoyed showing him these various hole-in-the-wall bars that he used to frequent at a point in his life. It had been a few years since Ren had offered to let Goro move into the same house, and Goro accepted it… with a contract, but small steps!
He glances up at the sky as a drop of water hits his hand. “Oh, it’s raining.” He needlessly points out.
Goro raises a hand to the sky, also feeling for rain. “Not terribly bad, I didn’t hear any flood warning either for today.”
“So, where to next?”
Ren follows as Goro leads the way.
They head into an arcade for a bit, and Ren absolutely floors Goro in GunAbout, though the scores were close.
“A loss is a loss,” Goro concedes with a shrug, only moments ago blaming his loss on the alcohol. “It’s getting late, let’s go back.”
Though, first, Goro steps into a nearby convenience store to buy a small umbrella, placing it into Ren’s hand because he won and Goro won’t have bets sitting unpaid. Then they begin walking towards the station, a bit far from where they were. The umbrella was not large enough for both of them to fully fit under, so Goro decided to let himself get absolutely drenched by the, now heavier, rainfall.
It’s about an hour of trains and more walking in the rain; Goro declines every time Ren offers the umbrella for a bit. But eventually they make it home.
“Goro… you’re entirely drenched! Let me at least dry your hair.”
“I’ll do it myself.” Goro leaves for the bedroom, likely to get changed.
Ren hangs his things to dry. Goro is still in the bedroom. Peeking in through a small opening, it looks like he fell asleep against the bed. Well, Ren doesn’t want to accidentally wake him, so all he does is gently put him under the covers before laying beside him.
[Daytime]
Ren wakes to the bed being empty. Goro’s side is rather undisturbed, neatly laid flat since whenever that man had left the comfy confines. It’s unusual that it was left like that, even if Goro woke up before Ren had— which was a rarity in its own right. Well, it wasn’t impossible if he wanted to get an early start on his day off, so he first checked the kitchen. It’s empty, and there is no evidence of Goro during the morning hours. If not the kitchen, then perhaps the lounge? Ren pokes his head into the lounge, no sign of Goro there either. “Goro?” He calls, walking towards the back door; he’s not one for stepping outside to enjoy the back garden but Ren never knows with him sometimes. There is no answer, and the rain still pours outside. Ren listens to the pattering of stray drops pelting the window for a short moment before continuing the search for his (unofficial) boyfriend. His shoes and coat remain by the door so it’s not like he left the house… Ren’s starting to worry.
“Goro?!” He called a final time, louder than the earlier attempts. Silence… then a dull thud from the upper floor. It sounded like it came from the storage hall— somewhere Ren doesn’t often set foot in. It completely slipped his mind, but beyond it is also the guest bedroom, which also hasn’t been used in about two years since Goro accepted sharing the master bed with Ren.
He can’t help but think he did something wrong. Maybe Ren should let him rest in that room, since he chose to do so himself. But… Goro would at least signal if he was upset. Being this silent is something Ren would do, not Goro. He sighs, now he’s a bit upset, but his concern far outweighs that feeling.
The storage hall is filled with more boxes and other miscellaneous things than he remembers. Any wrong step and he’s sure he’d become buried beneath said things. He probably should do some cleaning around this place in the near future, but he can’t be bothered to do it now. Carefully, he manages to reach the room behind it, he holds his breath to soundlessly enter the room.
Goro is there, to Ren’s relief. He is resting on top of the bed itself, not even bothering with the covers. It certainly is odd, but for now he should probably carry his sleepy Goro to somewhere less dusty, as the air in this room alone is absolutely coated from its disuse. Ren is glad that Goro is such a heavy sleeper, else he would have certainly woken up as Ren navigates to the master bedroom once more.
He shuts the door as he leaves the room. Goro rests soundly beneath the warm blankets in the room behind him. His breathing sounded ragged, and his body was rather sweaty… Did he fall ill from yesterday’s rain? Ren should have forced the umbrella on him last night.
Ren descends to the main floor. He should really let Goro rest for now, and let him rise when he’s ready. The rain sounds worse now, the wind seems to have picked up a bit. He can’t help glancing outside, it shouldn’t last the whole day he thinks. His eyes gaze over to the framed document beside the television… It's the contract that got Goro to agree to live with him. Something that Ren abides by, though he was also the one who wrote it up himself. He’s also certain that Goro hasn’t bothered to look at it again since signing it.
He skims over the small text, things he’s sure that Goro completely glossed over. How Ren promises to love and cherish him for as long as he’d allow him to— it was basically a mini marriage vow in paper form, and Goro mentioned none of it when he signed it.
Ren continued to busy himself with this and that on the lower floor, letting the time pass until Goro wakes up.
[Evening]
He gets to his feet when he hears the upstairs door open. Goro looks exhausted as he slowly shuffles down the stairs, he seems to have difficulty focusing on Ren’s face. And, also importantly, he's completely shirtless.
“Goro,” Ren said quietly, reaching to touch his skin. Goro lets him, not even making a face at the action. He’s warm, a sweaty warm, but still warm to the touch nonetheless. Suddenly he remembers the hour. “Ah, you must be hungry!”
“…ld…” Goro vaguely mumbles. Ren didn’t catch it.
“Let me see what we have in the fridge for now…” it was a good minute of digging through this and that before he found something suitable. “Apples.” He takes a couple of them out. “I didn’t even know we had some.”
He cuts them into little rabbits, just to see if Goro would say something about it. And, well, it’s a bit disappointing that Goro doesn’t even make a motion that he noticed it at all. Defeated, he hands the bowl of apple-rabbits over, turning away to begin on some soup.
As the soup begins to simmer, he feels Goro drape himself over his back. It’s enough to make Ren flinch. “Careful! It’s a hot stove!” Ren hissed, his arm nicking the edge of the soup pot. The burn hurts like hell, but Goro comes first. “C-could you back up a step? Please?” He pleads, for both Goro’s safety and his own, as Ren is almost leaning against the stove due to Goro’s pushing. If Ren was even a bit stronger, he could probably push Goro to take a seat at the couch; but because Goro is putting all his strength into this, even in his barely cognizant state, Ren just has to cook around him. Which is far more difficult than he had initially thought, but…
He’d do anything for Goro.
Without considering the general hazard that it is… Goro is being rather cute. He has never seen a clingy Goro before, never even thought it was possible. He shuts off the flames once the soup is done, gently nudging Goro towards the dining table.
…But of course, Goro protests.
“What about the couch?” Ren offers, accepting the fact that he has no verbal power today. Where those negotiation powers went, well, clearly they weren’t here right now. Goro allows it. Ren pours two bowls, waiting until Goro takes a seat before passing him his bowl. Sitting side by side, they eat in silence. Goro puts down an empty bowl first.
Ren doesn’t move. Goro’s arm, which is pressed against Ren’s side, is trembling. He must be freezing as he is. Ren drags the basket of blankets closer, pulling the warmest looking one out to wrap around the both of them since it happened to be large enough.
Goro… Goro fell asleep! Now he really can’t move! Ren tries not to think about how Goro is pushing up against his body, how his skin is soft and his muscle is firm… n- not thinking about it! Instead he notices that Goro still shivers beneath the blanket, so he pulls a couple more over his body. He accepts the fact that beneath all this weight, he won’t be able to pull Goro back upstairs; which is fine. This is how most movie nights turn into.
[Early Morning]
First things first, he checks how warm Goro feels against his arm… which is almost scalding! Ren can’t leave for his part time job in good conscience like this. Though it’s probably too short notice for someone to fill in his shift, so all he has is a couple hours to hopefully get Goro’s temperature down before he has to leave.
They do have medicine for this fever in the medicine cabinet, but it seems like Goro won’t let him go get the things. His arms cling around Ren’s shoulders and back, it’ll be very difficult separating them without waking Goro up. Though, it doesn’t stop him from trying. He gently tugs away Goro’s arms, slipping out with nothing more than a displeased groan from his sleepy partner.
It won’t be long, he promises wordlessly to him. Ren begins to dig through the medicine cabinet, reminding himself that he should also clean out the piles of probably expired liquids and pills that have been stockpiled here over the years. Of those, it unfortunately also included the cold and fever medicine, which means he will have to shop a bit for a new box, and perhaps also a water pillow for Goro.
He checks the time, there’s a little over an hour before he has to go in for work, considering transportation in the heavy rain, he has thirty minutes. Getting into a semi decent appearance takes him fifteen minutes. He also dampened a cloth to drape over Goro’s head before leaving the house.
[Early Evening]
Finally the shift is over! He ended up having to take an extra few hours since the next person was a no-show. He quickly picks up the needed items before he leaves for home.
And when he arrives, Goro is no longer asleep on the couch. Instead he is scowling at Ren from the top of the stairs, a blanket- Ren’s blanket- cloaked around him.
It was a blanket that Ren had previously altered to button around one’s neck; after making it he noticed Goro often eyeing it, if not just stealing it entirely, so Ren made him one of his own. The only difference between them was the colour of the buttons: Ren’s was red, and Goro’s was blue. Currently, Ren can quite clearly see the red buttons beneath Goro’s chin.
“Oh, you’re awake. Sorry I took so long.” Ren tries to give him a reassuring smile, “come, I’ve got medicine.”
Begrundgingly, Goro lifts the edges of the blanket like it were a dress before shuffling down the stairs. Ren can feel him staring daggers as he passes Goro a pill, a cup of water, and some dinner too.
“Have you taken your temperature yet?” He should get a sense of whether or not they should go to a doctor. Goro makes no indication about if he did so or not.
“‘S not bad.”
“Alright.” Goro is still giving him looks of betrayal for some reason. “Is there something you need at the moment?”
“Where…?”
“I was out for work,” was Goro sad that he left? “Don’t worry, I won’t leave for no reason.”
Goro seemed content with that answer, but he still is staring at Ren with want.
“… so?” Ren asks awkwardly.
“Bath.”
Ren blinks. “What?”
“Bath.” Goro repeats like it wasn’t abnormal of him to ask for one.
Ren stares at him as he voices his demand. “Is the fever clouding your head or—?” Goro yanks at his sleeve before he finishes that sentence. “Okay, okay! I’ll get it ready!” Goro grins at him smugly as he shuffles to the upper floor to begin filling the tub.
…
He watches the water fill until it hits roughly the three-quarters mark before shutting off the tap. Opening the door revealed Goro who sat right outside the room… he looked exhausted. Ren is certain that Goro is going to fall asleep if left alone. So he’ll stay watching.
Goro steps into the warm water, getting comfy in the bath. It’s a short couple minutes before Goro drifts to sleep. Ren keeps watch, making sure he isn’t going to accidentally drown or something.
Goro is… soft, when he’s like this. Ren would be lying if he said he liked this Goro more. The Goro with the harsh tone and biting words is still the same Goro after all. This soft and the other clingy Goro are just sides of him that he still rarely sees.
The ‘everyday Goro’ would usually cuss him out of the room, but Ren would still stay just to poke a bit of fun. He would accept the likely consequence of getting splashed by several handfuls of bathwater, but it was a necessary thing.
Glancing back at the current situation, he notices Goro’s little scarlet eyes staring up at him. “Finished?” Ren hazards a guess.
“Ren.”
“Yeah?”
“You…” he sighs, “it’s nothing at all.” His tone seems to have returned to its usual harshness, but it still remains lower and more gravelly because of this sickness. “Get out.”
Ren hums. “Well, you’re the one who fell asleep in the bath, I think I should stay, Goro.”
“Out!” Goro hisses.
Ren makes no effort to move out of the room. Goro cups and throws a handful of water across Ren’s chest… well, it’s a tad deserved, but Ren still isn’t entirely willing to leave. “Feeling any better now?” He asks instead, not caring about how his shirt is soaked.
Goro bares his teeth at him. “Enough to demand some damn privacy!”
“Alright, alright,” Ren’s had his fun, “I’ll check back in a few minutes.” He steps out of the room, staying within two steps of the door.
Goro is good about time today. Ren can hear him step out of the bath within a couple minutes. Ren can also hear the tub emptying and, more importantly, that Goro is monologuing again. Now, he usually is, Ren often purposely eavesdrops on him about this because he usually grumbles his grievances about this and that— usually small things that Ren can fix within the house, but today?
He sounds rather distressed today.
Ren can’t hear anything specific, but Goro is speaking quickly, tripping over words, and sounds moments short of sobbing. He tries to glance in further, as if it would glean more meaning than just forcing open the door. Well, the lock is broken, since Goro wanted so badly to prove he was a better phantom thief, so he tried to pick the lock- he broke it instead, so it’s more of just a small hole through the handle now. He can see Goro gripping the counter, leaning towards the mirror, a stripe wiped across it so he could glare at his reflection.
Putting a stop to the stalemate, as he’s sure Goro’s grumbling today cannot be anything good, he gently knocks at the door once the third promised minute passes. “Is everything alright?” Goro will certainly answer yes as he does normal—
“No!”
Ah, that’s… different. Ren opens the door, taking a single step into the room. “What’s wrong?” He coos.
“You!” Goro spins around to face Ren. “You saw… that, and are acting like nothing happened at all!!”
Ren thinks for a moment, grabbing a fresh towel off of the nearby shelf. “Beyond your fever, nothing else has happened.”
“That and I are not the same!”
“How so? They’re all you, aren’t they? All your different moods.”
“These aren’t just moods!” He snaps. Clearly this has been weighing on his mind for a while.
“Okay, maybe not- but they’re all still you!”
“Give it a week!” He dared.
“I’m not going to kick you out,” Ren assures, “we’ve lived together for almost half a decade, I’m certain of that decision.” Ren’s hurt that he still thinks that of him. “Why do you think that?” What has he done to make Goro suspect that of all things?
Goro seems to panic, his hand reaches back at the nearest object on the counter, throwing the soap bottle at Ren. Ren catches it easily (and thankfully he did, as the bottle was made of glass), gently putting it onto the ground before stepping even closer with the towel in hand. “It- it’s just…” Goro sputters, neither the words nor the logic were forming together for a proper retaliation.
“Please, you don’t have to worry about it. You should read that contract again if you don’t believe me.”
“The contract?” It seemed to take him a moment to remember what Ren was referring to. “I signed that shit ages ago, why bring it up now?”
“Just, when you get the chance, you won’t be disappointed… in me, at least.”
Goro rolls his eyes, letting Ren drape the towel over his shoulders. He also lets Ren carefully dry his hair, though likely to avoid him getting sicker than he was today and yesterday.
“You should go to bed soon, you were ill the entire day after all.” Ren says once he finished toweling his hair dry.
“As should you.”
“And I will,” Ren huffs a laugh, “you are still the raging insomniac of the two of us.
“Yeah right.” He muttered, pulling the towel tighter around himself. “I stay up one night for work and get the title of ‘raging insomniac’. You pull all-nighters far more often than I do.”
“Ah but they aren’t all-nighters, I get about 20 minutes of sleep.”
“Bullshit, you're making that up!”
“Hush, let’s argue when you’re clothed.”
Goro flushes at that. Pushing Ren aside, the two of them leave towards the bedroom, though when they do finally get into bed, Ren falls asleep before Goro can even get a single word into the argument.