[Here's the thing about Heigo's feelings toward Shuji - the very similarity between them that's always given Heigo his drive to protect and care for Shuji as a friend has always made him wary of considering the other man as a romantic prospect. Surely two people with the same damage, the same desperate coping mechanisms that always left the same ring of scorched earth around them when deployed, would only prove twice as destructive instead of helping each other at all?
But no one has the ability to reason away attraction, not even when they manage to compartmentalize affection well enough to ignore it most of the time. What they're starting here is a close and loving friendship with benefits, nothing more or less, and they've both made that plain. They both clearly understand the boundaries. There's no reason for an arrangement like this to go wrong.
Or at least Heigo's praying that will be the case when he knocks on Shuji's door, then tentatively opens it and steps inside, his heart galloping frantically in his chest. He's very dressed down compared to his usual professional sheen, in a simple pair of khakis and a long-sleeved t-shirt with his wavy hair hanging loose around his face.]
GET OVER HERE SHUJI
But no one has the ability to reason away attraction, not even when they manage to compartmentalize affection well enough to ignore it most of the time. What they're starting here is a close and loving friendship with benefits, nothing more or less, and they've both made that plain. They both clearly understand the boundaries. There's no reason for an arrangement like this to go wrong.
Or at least Heigo's praying that will be the case when he knocks on Shuji's door, then tentatively opens it and steps inside, his heart galloping frantically in his chest. He's very dressed down compared to his usual professional sheen, in a simple pair of khakis and a long-sleeved t-shirt with his wavy hair hanging loose around his face.]
Shuji...?