It's The Little Things That Get to You

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

As relieving as it was to hear that his body art wasn't making Jericho uncomfortable and that the man even thought it was 'nice', it was giving Nero a headache to try and discern why he was looking at him so strangely. It didn't occur to him that Jericho could be gay, if a lawyer as fancy as he seemed to be was anything other than straight it would have surely been all over the news. Then again, Nero didn't watch TV. So atleast in the news papers.

But it was impossible to shrug that odd feeling off, little things like the indentation in his beer can (Which he threw away immediately) were too suspicious. Hey wait, he threw that away!

"Way to recycle." It was an amused playful growl, finding himself a chair in the kitchen and settling down comfortably. Legs spread, one arm over the back and the other running through his wet hair after setting the can down. Ugh, still damp, but he wasn't going to take the tie out, then he'd have some horrible mullet thing and that just didn't tickle his fancy.

"Thanks, I got them in Japan, took forever to get them all done. Got them all down my legs and feet, too." Now there was a bit of pride, musing to himself and reminiscing fondly with a soft little smile. "Hurt like a bitch."

Wait- what? Nero's head turned at the mention of food with an unreadable expression. In all of his experience, people usually didn't offer their service people dinner. Well, okay, some lonely house wifes did occassionally do just that. But Jericho was NOT a lonely horny woman. And even though Nero DID bat for both sides as gender was unimportant to him, these unfortunate women were usually married and uninformed about the role of plumbers. Whatever, this was wierd, but Nero liked surprises and always rolled with the punches life threw at him. This was just one of those. Perfectly normal.

"Yea, sure. I prefer to cook, but, your kitchen doesn't seem well stocked." Besides, now that food was mentioned, he was hungry. A warm smile was given, all of his perfectly white teeth (Did the gardening for a dentist) standing out against dark skin. Couldn't hurt to get some food in his belly. "I'll get back to work while we wait for it to get here? Order whatever, i'll eat anything."

[Obelisk]

Yet another reason Jericho was paranoid about his liking to men would get out -- his career. Who would want to hire a fairy as their lawyer? That and the embarrassment would have killed Jericho. He was supposed to be a big, powerful lawyer, one that had his pick of women. Jericho dated women but it was just for show, just to keep the suspicions down. He never took them home and there were never second dates. Everyone thought he just hadn't found a woman good enough for him; he was arrogant enough to think that, so it was believable.

"Oops?" He offered dumbly even as that purr of a laugh rolled over him. Jericho swallowed then took another drink of his new beer. He could do this. This was just talking. He talked on a daily basis, though that was work oriented. This was different.

He was staring at Nero's pants when the man mentioned tattoos on his legs. Jericho couldn't even fathom why someone would sit through so much pain. Though, the results were nice. There was that word again, nice. Couldn't he come up with something better? Cool. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Ripped. Sexy. No, no, no, maybe he should stick with nice. Nice was safe.

"Japan? A man of the world, are we?" A grin, a little false, a little nervous. In the office, in the courtroom, and in the business world Jericho was an ace, a charmer, a winner. In the sanctity of his own home, apparently, he was a social retard. It was easier to put on that persona of the ruthless lawyer in the outside world then inside his own house.

"Um, no. I can't cook to save my life. Besides, I'm not home often enough to really even bother." He wasn't sure why he was telling Nero of his habits, but for some reason his tongue felt loose.

"Alright, then. I'll come get you when the foods here, I guess?" Tried to ignore that brilliant smile on that handsome face and the way it made his heart skip a little. To have that gesture directed at him was new, exhilarating. It almost made him feel like a giddy little school girl, but he wasn't, he was very much a grown male. Jericho responded with his own smile, a real one, lacking the plastic nature of his politician grins.

Jericho fidgeted a little, offered Nero a tight, quick smile, and was off looking for the phonebook. He sat on the couch, near the phone, and flipped through the pages. While his eye scanned the text, Jericho tried not to think too much about what he was doing. Who the hell invited a plumber to dinner? Nero's company was nice, though, despite the exploding pipe incident. Jericho just wanted a little more of that charming attention. Usually it was just him and his parrot in this too big castle of his. With another person inside it didn't feel so cold, didn't feel so empty and large.

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

"Sure, I guess you could say i'm a man of the world. I'll try anything once, after all." These were his final words before Nero put his empty can down on the counter, slipped his thumbs under the hem of his pants and headed back to go deal with the pipes from hell. And to contemplate. He settled down in the bathroom to find it dryer than himself and a very tolerable working condition. The plumber had the background music of metal clanking against metal, bolts scraping against nuts and the hiss of water to accompany his thoughts.

A pause inbetween cleaning out a short section of piping, scratching the hair of his face. What the hell was going on here, anyways? One moment Jericho wanted to slaughter him for getting water on his carpet, and the next he was all... What the hell was he? Nervous. He had certaintly looked nervous. Which was ridiculous, the man was a cocky lawyer who was all smug the instant Nero stepped foot in here. And now he was inviting him to dinner. Was it the beer? How many did Jericho have, anyways? Nero's own tolerance for alchohal was utterly astounding and it took a lot to get him even slightly inebriated. And the lawyer didn't seem scrawny, and wasn't acting drunk, nor should it had taken that quick to kick in. Still, there was that sort of wierd shyness, a bit of social inadequacy. A.. A... lack of smoothness? Yeah, sure.

Right, the pipes. Nero returned to fixing them up, having located the problem and was managing to stop any more leaks and THOUGHT he had it solved. He stood up and gave the faucet a turn, wincing, knowing there was a chance everything could damned explode again. The sound of merrily flowing water accompanied his relieved sigh, washing his hands in the newly functioning sink and getting any of the grime off of his face while he was at it.

Whatever was up, it wasn't much bothering him. Maybe he was just shy. Yeah, that was it, poor guy probably didn't get a lot of company outside of work. Hell, Nero had never seen any other cars parked in his driveway in the morning. Not that he was really watching, you just noticed these sorts of things when you came there every day of the week. And it's not as though it was unpleasant company, as awkward as he was Nero was growing fond of the rather interesting man. Even better, he was easy on the eyes. Even the eyepatch. But any thoughts past that were barred from his mind. Afterall, Jericho was straight, even if he was attracted to him nothing could come of it. Besides, the guy was a fancy assed lawyer.

Which was why it was so confusing that he was staying for dinner.

He was over thinking things. Stop worrying and flow. Christ, Nero never got so bothered about how someone else was behaving. Sink was fixed. The cabinets were still left, so he was working on those when he heard the door bell ring and didn't wait to be called down, heading back to the kitchen at a casual pace with his thums replaced into his pants.

"Fixed your sink. And it's a shame you always eat out, must miss a home cooked meal." Another one of those award winning smiles. "Should come over some time, or let me make something here. Although, whatever you got smells damn good." Maybe that was just him, though.

[Obelisk]

Jericho had spent a good time trying to think of what to order. Nero said that he'd eat anything but Jericho couldn't help but worry he'd order the wrong thing, the one food that that the plumber didn't like. Jericho himself wasn't hungry; the man actually didn't have much of an appetite often. He was too stressed for that by work and his own manic-ness, and currently he was still a bundle of nerves.

He'd settled on Chinese and had ordered what was probably far more than necessary. Jericho just wanted to be careful. The doorbell rang, Jericho answered, paid the man, tipped him too much without noticing, took the bag, then made for the kitchen. Setting the food on the counter, Jericho was mildly surprised to find Nero already there.

"Figured I might as well go with Chinese." He explained, taking out the little white cartons of food, actually putting them into rows on the counter. He liked rows. Rows, columns, organized groups.

"Just give me the bill whenever and I'll pay you." Jericho said, glancing up to Nero, offering one of those tight, stilted smiles of his. "You're a fast worker" Honestly he was, though Jericho really had nothing to base things off of. The lawyer had no idea how long it took to fix a sink. All he knew was that Nero was done sooner than he had imagined, so yeah, fast worker.

On Nero's offer to cook, Jericho looked genuinely surprised. No one invited him over to do anything, except go over details on a case. He was sure that Nero didn't actually mean anything by the invite. The tall man was just making a polite invite that he never intended to keep. Thinking of it that way was easier to deal with, easier not to get nervous over about, easier to dismiss.

" Our cook was good." He said in some manner of affirming Nero's statement. Fancy meals made by the hired cook was as close to "home cooking" Jericho had ever got. Though Mrs.Johnson's cookies were not to be overlooked. The most cooking Jericho had ever done himself was to pop in a bag of popcorn into the microwave, really.

"Help yourself to anything in the fridge to drink," Jericho said as he set down the paper plates that came with the meal onto the counter. Chopsticks, too, arranged side by side onto the tabletop, exactly parallel with the edge. It wasn't as if he even tried or was consciously doing it, organizing things just came naturally to him. Second nature.

"Well, Mr. Nero, dig in." A grin, a bit more confident now that Jericho was sure of the outcome of their encounter. Nero would eat, they'd drink a little, he'd pay the man, and he'd be on his merry way. They'd probably never speak of this again and he wouldn't be surprised if Nero changed his mail route. It made Jericho feel a little pathetic. He was paying someone to keep him company for the evening, luring him in with free food.

"So, you're a plumber and a mailman." Smiling as he picked at the white rice on his plate, poking at it rather than eating it. " What else do you do?" He questioned, glancing up briefly before returning his gaze to the plate in front of him.

"Oh, could you hand me a beer?" Jericho asked. He didn't hold his alcohol well, three usually left him with a slight buzz. Maybe that's what he was after, that numbing, stupefying sensation.

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

Nero was watching Jericho in his little display of setting up plates and boxes with a sort of morbid fascination, unable to tear his eyes away from the tidy organization. He himself wasn't messy, per say, he just didn't put a lot of effort into things like that. Books went wherever they wanted to go on his shelf, all the utensils were in one drawer, and glasses and plates had no special order. The plumber could tell just by a quick glance around that EVERYTHING here probably had an order to it, and he once again felt guilty for that incident with the water.

And it reasserted in his mind that he wasn't going to make Jericho pay, he'd call it a favour between friends. Kindling new bonds and all that. Besides, he might have to get his carpet replaced on account of Nero's mistake.

Once the smell was recognized and confirned by words, that smile broke out once again. "I love chinese food." Nero idly commented while finding himself a glass and filling it with water, not wanting to deform the taste. A beer was pulled out for Jericho and set down infront of him while Nero sat himself down quite comfortably. He didn't get all picky with what he ate, though, and took a portion of all the things that were ordered till he couldn't fit anymore onto his plate.

The taller man spoke inbetween bites, and he obviously had a healthy appetite. "What else? Right now i'm also a Cooper, I make wine barrels. I like working with my hands, they've become quite talented." Idly he flexed his fingers, watching the tendons move before returning them to manipulating the chopsticks. "You always wanted to be a lawyer? I could never do something like that, my ex was training to be a doctor, all that school was making him miserable though."

For a split second his expression became a frown, eying something which he hoped was pork as it hung precariously on the end of his chopsticks before ending its misery. Nero didn't mind being open with this man who he had only met today, he wasn't a very private person and had very little shame. And Jericho seemed to be opening up, and with the presence of more alcohal.. things could only get better as the uptight guy loosened up. By whatever means necessary.

That wierd shyness seemed to be dissipating or already gone, and Nero decided it was his imagination. As for his invite, the jack-of-all-trades was going under the impression that a lack of answer was an acceptance. Couldn't very well go without returning this hospitality.

[Obelisk]

"I bet they are." Jericho said without really thinking about it, watching Nero's fingers as the man flexed his hands. They were big, he thought, much like the rest of him. The beer was a substitute for eating and Jericho left his plate of rice altogether untouched. He was mid sip and almost choked when he realized Nero had referred to his ex as "him" instead of "her." He wiped at his lips with a finger and blinked dumbly. Nero's ex was a man? Jericho's thoughts were racing. Don't think about it too much, don't get your hopes up. Don't even consider that. It's not going to happen, nothing can ever happen. You're not going to let anything happen with anyone. Ever. For Christ's sake, answer the man's question before he gets suspicious.

"No, well, yes, I mean..." Jericho's eye dropped to examine the can held within his hands and he was suddenly feeling flushed, hot around the collar. He'd never really had dreams of his own. His father had begun to mold Jericho into his heir, in every respect, at a very tender age. Shuffled off to the best private schools, encouraged to study rather than go out and play. He'd gotten in serious trouble once for shirking his studies and going out. Sufficed to say, he'd been scared enough to never try that again. "Business and law run in the family." The lawyer said at last, looking up and giving a shrug. It was the best answer he could offer.

"I can understand where you're, uh, partner was coming from though." He added, the word "partner" feeling strange on his tongue. "School can be brutal." College had also been the only time Jericho had ever reached out to someone, broke away from his closeted lifestyle. It had been a brief tryst, but Jericho still remembered everything about it. That had been, what, seven or so years ago?


" I liked it, though." A small smile, secretive, remembering. Jericho slid from his seat and threw his plate and it's uneaten contents into the garbage bin. Along with it went another empty beer can. Jericho was quick to replace it. He opened up another can, took another long series of drinks and let that relaxing buzz fall over him.

Back to his seat he went, leaning his elbows onto the countertop, head resting and propped up by a slender-fingered hand. He was quiet for a long while, eye drooped lazily. How could Nero be so open like that, wasn't he afraid someone was going to judge him, tear him down, berate him? Jericho felt an inexplicable stab of jealousy in his chest. Not everyone had the luxury of being open.

"Never would've taken you for a gay guy." Jericho said, voice coming out more bitter than he would've intended.

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

The darker skinned man listened intently for an answer to his question, chewing slowly and savouring the taste before he finished the last piece of probably-hopefully-not-cat on his plate. Once it came, he sat in silent thought. He was a very open person, yes, but even he had his limits, and his tongue only relayed information past the age of thirteen. Everything before then might as well have not existed as far as the rest of the world was concerned.

Anything pertaining to the fact that he had quite literally run away from his fancy-ass boarding school and abandoned his rich overbearing family before he ended up sad and lonely would be the only thing unmentioned. No, before he relayed that he and Jericho had been destined for the same fate and were oddly alike in that respect, he was going to need more booze. And something far stronger than this.

Partner? Only then did he realize he had let his sexuality slip, it hadn't been intentional. But it wasn't really important whether or not Jericho knew, it wasn't some big secret and never had been.

"I've had to take some training courses, but i've never been back to school for anything serious. I can't deal with being trapped in a stuffy room with books." The way he spoke about school wasn't bitter, it was just the truth. "M'glad you liked it." Still the truth. What came next in their conversation surprised him, taken aback by the sudden forwardness.

Nero laughed one of his deep rich laughs, leaning back in his chair before regarding Jericho with a downright devilish smile. "Never would've taken you for a straight guy." It wasn't spoken cruely, nor was he going to bother explaining that he enjoyed both genders. For a moment he considered asking Jericho just exactly what a gay man looked like, but instead he got up to throw his empty plate away and linger for a moment before deciding to get another beer then return to his seat.

[Obelisk]

As jokingly Nero had spoke the words, Jericho still looked like he'd been physically struck, blindsided by something he really hadn't seen coming. A wide green eye was on Nero and Jericho's mouth was partly open in a shocked gape. What the hell was that supposed to mean? He didn't look gay. In fact Jericho thought he looked and acted very much the opposite. He might as well have been clueless, though, considering the fact he didn't think the tight little swim shorts he wore while sunbathing were telling in the least.

"I'm not gay." He bit out a little too hastily, face twisting into a look of annoyance. Jericho had never actually had to say those words, had never had to deny his sexuality verbally. It felt strange, contrived, weak. His beer can was set off to the side and his hands nervously flexed into fists then relaxed several, consecutive times. It was like he didn't know what to with himself.

"If you're done here, I'll pay you, and then I think you should leave." Suddenly cold, staring off towards the side rather than looking at larger man. He didn't say anything after that but stood from where was sitting only to return with his checkbook. He flipped it open, leaned over the counter and placed his pen tip to the paper surface.

"How much do I owe you." He didn't even bother to look up at Nero and just stared hard at the amount line on the check. Jericho's tone wasn't casual in the least and held that matter-of-fact businessman's tone he'd worked so long and hard to prefect. He was going to pretend like his hand that held the pen wasn't shaking, even though the movements were minute and almost unnoticeable.

His gut twisted and his mouth felt dry. He swallowed, breathed, and just waited for Nero to answer. This was the most anxious he'd felt in a long while, despite the alcohol running through his veins.

[KOCHI-KOCHI]

Through all of this Nero sat with one arm over the back of his chair and the other holding his drink to his lips, once again finding himself watching this display with an almost scholarly interest.

But now he knew. He knew what it was earlier that was getting under his tattooed skin, that sort of odd nervousness he couldn't define, what it was that was making the other man so damn awkward. Nero was almost angry with himself for not realizing it earlier. How the guy was the most nervous when he had been in the kitchen shirtless, how he tensed up when he had gotten too close by the fridge. It hadn't really obvious so the man wasn't too hard on himself, but now there was no doubt.

Jericho's words had been too quick, too defensive, and Nero didn't need to be some fancy psychology major to know denial when he saw it. But it was the hands. Those slim hands he admired in some ways, they were the give away. Clenching and now shaking, Nero's shockingly blue eyes were trained on them as they gripped the pen, only seeing the way they moved because he was examining the other so very closely.

He was gay. Straight people didn't get so damn huffy over teasing, teasing which Nero had every right to return. Nor did they freeze up when shirtless men got too close.

But what to do? He sat regarding the twitching lawyer, finishing his drink quickly while rolling over the facts. No, screw this. Screw rational thinking. People went to school for that shit.

Nero worked by INSTINCT.

"I'll leave if you really want me to, but, i'm pretty god damned sure all you owe me is this-" And as he spoke Nero rose from his chair enough to lean across the table and with those big strong talented hands he roughly grabbed the lawyers chin (And his very dapper goatee) and kissed him. He didn't expect anything, his plan hadn't really gone past this point and the plumber didn't have any great aspirations for what would happen next. As long as he didn't get shot in the face, attacked by a parrot, or sued and consequently fired.

[Obelisk]

To say that Jericho was surprised would've been a big fat understatement. Never in his three decades of life had he ever encountered someone so bold. At first Jericho was too shocked to react, eyes wide as those lips pressed against his. His hand fell lax and the pen clattered onto the checkbook where it rolled and eventually fell off the table and onto the floor.

Eventually his brain managed to start working again and Jericho pulled back, yanking his face from Nero's grip. His initial expression was still one of shock but it quickly morphed into a mask of disgruntled anger. For a short while there it seemed like Jericho was about to punch the man, his hands had clenched into tight fists.

"I told you," His voice was softer, stilted. " I'm not..." Teeth gritted, Jericho's eye wandered Nero's face. There really was no use in lying anymore, was there? He'd made it painfully obvious just what kind of person he was, regarding the company he preferred to keep. It'd been so damned long since his last, well, anything with someone and the beer was really starting to take its toll. Though maybe that's what Jericho wanted to believe, that he was inebriated, that way he could dismiss his next actions as a drunken blunder.

Soft hands that hadn't seen a day of hard labor in their life, grabbed Nero's face and Jericho leaned in, stopping just a sliver away from kissing the man. There was a split fraction of hesitance before Jericho leaned in, pressing his mouth tentatively against the darker man's. It wasn't enough and he quickly grew more confident, tongue darting out to lick against slick teeth. A brief taste, one of Chinese food and beer. Strange, but not entirely unpleasant.

He pulled away, hands dropping to Nero's shirt, palms running flat down the man's well built chest. Jericho leaned in again to steal another kiss just as his hands turned to fists in the fabric of the worker's shirt. This kiss was brief and Jericho was left more breathless than he ought to have been. Too much restraint, too much second-guessing himself. His eye followed the line of Nero's jaw, then his neck, settling some where along where his collar bone would be.

Not sure what to do next and unwilling to relinquish his hold on Nero, Jericho stood there, his shoulders heaving with each audible breath. He should've let go, realized it was a bad idea and just chalked it up as a failing on his part. As it were, Jericho remained where he was, unwilling, maybe unable, to let go.