Mosquito

During the next two weeks, initial excitement turned into routine. Shohei wasn’t unhappy about that. While he still felt incredibly lucky to be where he was, he also appreciated the calm that came with being settled. With his own assigned termite colony and research goals, he was free to devote himself to the work he liked best: Trying out a thousand things and making a million notes about them.

Kyourin was the most helpful mentor he could have wished for. When he was present in the lab, he supervised Shohei’s efforts, explaining the equipment Shohei wasn’t yet familiar with and providing his input on anything and everything. Well, except his private life. Their talks, which happened more and more, were never about things outside work. It suited Shohei just fine. After all, what did he have going for himself outside work? Maybe he should just move into the office like Kyourin…

——

The terrace overlooking the sea quickly became Shohei’s favourite spot. He only ever met the woman from the front desk out there, as the rest of the staff seemed to be non-smokers. She would have a shorter way out the front of the building, but the company image had to be maintained.

That day, the sun was out in full force, warming the air on this early April day, and out of the wind it felt almost like summer. Shohei leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes. The dehydrator was running for another hour yet, and only after that run was through, he could move on to the ethanol part. Besides, the working hours were very flexible. No one would fault him for taking an extra hour for lunch. With that thought in mind, he drifted off to sleep.

——

“Eisaku?”

Ran walked into the room Eisaku had claimed as office space during the construction of the jungle greenhouse. It was a mostly empty room, in which he had placed two desks, several chairs and one large sofa pushed against the back wall, on which he was dozing under a lab coat used as a blanket. Ran walked as quietly as possible, passing by the desk when something caught his eye.

The latest reports on the construction of the facility lay open on the desk. Even though they had most of them digitally, Eisaku still preferred printing them out. Ran lost no opportunity to make fun of him, calling him an old man, when he really was only in his thirties. It was just one of the small things that endeared him to Ran. He looked over them. Order forms for materials, plants… Progress reports. Invoices. Luckily money was not an issue with how many companies were using their patents. It was… Wait.

Ran picked up a paper, half hidden underneath a stack of unopened letters. These were order forms for… oh. He looked over at Eisaku’s sleeping form. He couldn’t be going ahead with that so soon?

No, he could. Ran knew this man inside out. He knew his fever, his ambition. It was why he had devoted himself to him. Seeing Eisaku shine in his accomplishments was Ran’s whole life. But how? Who? No…

He put the paper back where he had found it and crouched down next to the sofa. Eisaku was snoring softly, his glasses skewed against the pillow. Ran’s smile was besotted. He reached for the glasses and carefully put them on the desk. When he turned back, Eisaku was looking at him, eyes still drooping from sleep, delightfully disoriented.

“Hey,” Ran said.

“Uh. What time…”

“9PM.”

“Oh, fuck.”

“Don’t worry, I handled the delivery.”

Eisaku turned on his back, stretching like a cat, then holding out his arms. Ran went into them willingly, laying down on top of Eisaku, snuggling into his embrace.

“You’re the best,” Eisaku mumbled into Ran’s hair.

“I know.”

—--

Shohei woke up with a start, jolted awake by a hand on his shoulder. The chair swayed and he lost his balance for a moment, grabbing onto whatever was in reach. That was Kyourin, who held him in turn, stabilising Shohei’s chair.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Kyourin said. “I was just afraid you’d catch a sunburn.”

Shohei blinked into the light, Kyourin’s face dark against the halo that shone around him. He cleared his throat.

“I shouldn’t have fallen asleep. Sorry.”

“Oh, it’s quite alright. I’m not here to reprimand you. I wanted to show you something and you weren’t at the lab.”

Kyourin took a seat next to Shohei and turned his face to the sun, closing his eyes. Shohei couldn’t stop himself from looking at the man’s profile, admiring it for a moment before he cleared his throat again, turning his view to the seafront.

“I was waiting for the dehydrator to finish. I’m most used to working with dried material, so I like to run my tests on that first before proceeding to the fresh specimen.”

“Mhm. That’s perfectly fine. It is a very nice day out.”

Kyourin looked over to Shohei, a slight smile on his lips. It was the first time Shohei had seen him smile like that, soft and indulgent. He stared at Kyourin’s lips for a moment too long.

“I’m going to grab a coffee,” Shohei said. “Then I’ll be in the lab.”

“Mhm,” Kyourin replied, leaning back in the sun.

Shohei left him there, walking back into the relative twilight of the building. The ventilated air was cool and dry. He adjusted his clothes and… something was wrong. He reached for the back of his neck, scratching at the skin.

His fingers came back bloody.

“Huh?”

Shohei shrugged out of his lab coat, and found a bright red spot at the collar. Damn mosquitoes. There were a few in the jungle greenhouse, unavoidably. He must’ve scratched it open. Better get a bandaid.