Fanfic: Restless (1/1)

[smokingmirror]

Title: Restless
Author: Avarice
Rating: PG
Pairing: Yuki/Shuichi
Spoilers: -
Summary: Yuki just can't seem to get to sleep.
Word Count: 904
Date First Posted: 26-08-2001
Date Revised - 17-05-2011
Beta: -
Awards: -
Notes: Yuki POV.
Feedback: always welcome, as is constructive criticism.
Also Archived At: FFN

The silence is stifling.

I lie awake in bed, arms and legs spread like a starfish, a cigarette dangles from my lips. Cool sheets cover me up to my waist.

It is 2:26am, and Bad Luck is on tour.

Just a small one, relatively speaking. National. Playing to some of the smaller cities, building their popularity up. News from their successes filters back to Tokyo, which seems to grow more anxious in anticipation for the final show they will do here before going back to the studio.

And there are so many things I could be doing right now.

Over the past three days Mika and Tatsuha have both rung, not so subtly inviting me out. To stop brooding, they said. To get out of the house, they said. Nevermind I'm always too busy working any other time, they think I want the only week I'll have to myself to finish my latest book to be interrupted by their inanities.

I hung up on them both.

The silence is heavy, inescapable.

The first day of the tour was like some glorious holiday. No loud Nittle Grasper music. No tripping over stacks of manga left in the hallway on the way to the bathroom. No slamming of the front door. No screeching of my name. I got more written in the hours of that day than I had the previous week.

And then... I went to bed.

I don't know whether I've ever had a worse night trying to sleep in my entire life. My eyelids didn't even droop. It was as if I had forgotten how. I ended up pacing and chain-smoking until I finally fell into an exhausted heap on the sofa.

The next night was no better. I couldn't drift off until I switched my pillow for the garish coloured thing he sleeps on that clashes with my paintwork. A shirt wrapped callously around my hand worked the following evening. The night after that, I couldn't shut my eyes until I put one of his demo recordings in the cd player.

He really does write mundane lyrics.

Which is where I am now... my head on his pillow, his voice piping softly through speakers, a bright and an article of entirely too effeminate clothing in my grip.

And the silence, the emptiness that is his lack of presence has never been more apparent.

It's 2:33am, and Bad Luck is on tour.

I resign myself to never being able to get a restful night's sleep alone for the rest of my life when the phone rings. Well, my night can't really get any worse, can it?

"What?" I demand irritably into the receiver after letting the phone ring four times.

"Yuki? I didn't wake you, did I?"

Shuichi Shindou. The only person in the world who can ring somewhere in the wee hours of the morning and not assume someone is sleeping.

Well, I'm not, but how does he know that, eh?

"Idiot, do you know what time it is?"

"It's 2:35am!" he answers back. I can hear the cheerful smile in his voice. He continues before I have a chance. "I know it's a little late, but I did promise to ring after the concert in Osaka."

"You could have rung in the morning," I let my voice drip with irritation, as per usual.

The brat goes silent on the other end of the line for about three seconds. "Whoops! I'm sorry, Yuki, I'm still so hyped, that's all. Hiro told me to ring tomorrow, but I just couldn't wait!"

"Did you ring just to annoy me because you're out of town, or is there an actual purpose to this phone call?"

His laughter bubbles joyfully. "I wanted to tell you that we've only got one more concert to go before we finish!"

Hm. This means...

"So, what time do I have to have the locks changed by?"

"4 o'clock!" he answers happily, "we arrive in the afternoon, have a few hours to get settled, and the concert's at 7."

"Is that all?" I ask indifferently, suddenly feeling the urge to yawn.

"That and..." his voice trails off, no longer carrying his almost perpetual manic whine, "and I wanted to say goodnight. I miss you, Yuki."

I hate it when I can't get mad at him. Even moreso when he makes that nonexistent smile ghost my face.

"You know, ringing at this time in the morning doesn't exactly endear you to me," I answer gruffly.

"Aww, but you're so sexy when you're cranky!" The teasing tone is back in his voice.

"Idiot," I chide softly, unable to stifle my yawn.

"Idiot's lover," he counters smoothly. My mouth opens, then closes, and opens again without making a sound. The best I can manage is an indignant noise in the base of my throat.

"Yuki... do you have one of my cd's on?" he asks curiously.

"No," I answer shortly before hanging up the phone, cutting off the sound of his peals of laughter.

For some reason, I can't seem to keep my eyes open any more. About time, too. I roll over and settle myself comfortably on my stomach. It must be his boring conversation.

"Idiot's lover," I mutter through a yawn, "damn straight," is the last coherent thought I have before sinking into a peaceful slumber.

After all, the silence will be short-lived. Better make the most of it.

~finis